Thursday, December 28, 2006

For Patience and Fortitude

Here are some random memories of a very random night

We keep tryin' to find our way
But all we know is he left without us
We keep tryin' to face the day
But he left without us

(BTW, the original lyrics were written by Jaci Velasquez, not Rebecca St. James)

Jersey City from Battery Park
"I'm gonna patent it, or publish it, or do whatever you do to make it famous."

The winter atrium
"There's a cute guy. Or is that a woman?"

the winter atrium
"We LOVE [fill in the blank]!"

Oui, oui!!! =P Posted by Picasa

Friday, December 15, 2006

Christmas at the White House

Yes, you read that correctly, and yes... I was here, in the oval office!!!

Here is the Christmas tree in the oval office (there are Christmas trees in every room!).

A gingerbread White House (actually, it looked like it wa made of graham crackers, but maybe that's just me), complete with Barney, Miss Beasley (the Scotties), and India (the cat). =P
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Yesterday...

All my troubles seemed so... (what's the opposite of far away?)

Ok, so those lyrics don't really fit, let's try these...

Got a ticket coming home,
Wish the officer had known
What a day today has been.
Then I stumbled through the door,
Dropping junk mail on the floor.
When will this day end?
~ Amy Grant

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. =(

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Christmas in DC



These pictures are brought to you by America's tax payers (without whom these decorations would not exist) and Picasa (which allows people like me to make pretty, overlaid pictures like this). =) Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Only in Texas!

A real estate agent is giving away free Glock pistols to people in law enforcement if they buy a house from her. It may seem like a strange incentive to someone like myself who comes from an anti-gun state and has never hunted in her life, but in a state like Texas, guns are wildly popular... Apparently, it is a good advertizing scheme. =)

Monday, December 11, 2006

A couple of pics from the Messiah concert at the National Cathedral




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On Tradition

I've often wondered, how did that become a tradition? Sometimes the question arises as I hear of some odd antics of foreign peoples, other times it is in regard to my own family. Of course, it usually involves repitition and managing to get other people to join. I suppose when it comes to a country-wide tradition, it might be harder to start, but it seems that in my family traditions are becoming a dime a dozen. C. and I used to always bring up past traditions that ended somewhere along the way, whether it was stopping at the hot dog stand when we went to get the Christmas tree with Dad, shopping at the mall for HOURS (torture for 2 VERY active girls!) trying to get all of Grandma's gifts from Grandpa (who never does his oen shopping). My younger siblings must have become tired of hearing what once was and began to create new traditions. I hear about these new traditions throughout the year, but they multiply exponentially during the Christmas season. "We HAVE to [fill in the blank]! It's tradition" is something I hear all too frequently. Some of the "traditions" are pretty funny, like the little, stuffed, cartooninsh-looking duck, wearing orange and green. There is absolutely nothing about it that makes one think of Christmas, but it is now "tradition" to stick it on the Christmas tree. =P Pretty much anything that they do once is up for "tradition" status, and what determines what does and what does not become tradition is beyond me! We do have actual traditions (those things we do without fail every year), of those my favorite is cookie baking. Although I am on my own and in a tiny apartment, I decided I should still keep the tradition of baking cookies, so I did. I invited some friends over and we went to work. The result was a day of fun and about 10 dozen beautiful cookies (there is nothing like putting a couple of perfectist guys in charfe of decorating!), which were shipped off to college students in the form of care packages. =)
Christmas cookies
I hope you noticed the spice dolphins. They are a very important part of any Christmas celebration! =P
a Spice Dolphin Posted by Picasa

Friday, December 08, 2006

You know you're homeschooled when...

You don't recognize more than half of the top ten most memorable TV catch phrases and the ones you do recognize are Neil Armstrong's "One small step for man ..." (#2) and the line from JFK's inaugural speech, "Ask not what your country can do for you..." (#5).

Of course, I am not completely pop-culture illiterate (not that there is much worth knowing about in the pop-culture world). I was in line at the supermarket when a woman point to one of those sleezy magezines at the check-out counter and asked her husband, who's that? Oh, that' s Kevin Federline he replied. "No. The girl. Who is she?" He burst out laughing as all the shoppers stopped to see what was so funny. "That is BRITNEY SPEARS!" He said in utter amazement. He continued to laugh at her as others joined him. I didn't really find it all that funny. Actually, I thought to myself, she probably spends her time much more wisely than her E!-knowledgable counterpart.

Maybe if people spent more time in reality and less time in TV land, one of the top news stories would not involve what the First Lady was wearing... or even better, the First Lady would not see a need to wear a $8,500 red Oscar de la Renta dress. Just a thought.

Friday, December 01, 2006

So, I am a Reformed Evangelical... shocking. =)

You scored as Reformed Evangelical. You are a Reformed Evangelical. You take the Bible very seriously because it is God's Word. You most likely hold to TULIP and are sceptical about the possibilities of universal atonement or resistible grace. The most important thing the Church can do is make sure people hear how they can go to heaven when they die.

Reformed Evangelical

71%

Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan

61%

Fundamentalist

61%

Neo orthodox

54%

Emergent/Postmodern

36%

Roman Catholic

32%

Charismatic/Pentecostal

21%

Classical Liberal

21%

Modern Liberal

7%

What's your theological worldview?
created with QuizFarm.com

Thursday, November 30, 2006

My Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

This is the first time I have ever gone out by myself to buy a Christmas tree. The experience was not as bad as I anticipated, but it certainly lacked all the ceremony that always accompanies the traditional family Christmas tree chopping (which I participated in while I was home for Thanksgiving). Since I have a little apartment, I figured I should get a little tree.


Once it was all lit up and decorated, I could help but think that it looked like a Charlie brown Christmas tree. Well, imagine the surprise I felt as I turned on the TV that night and what to my wondering eyes should appear...Charlie Brown and his Christmas tree! So I took a picture to record the irony for you, my adoring public. =P

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Wish I may, wish I might...

not waste my money by throwing it into a wishing well!

Did you know that in the UK, people throw, on average, almost 3 million pounds (that is approx. $5.8 million!!!) into fountains and wishing wells?!?! Well, that is what the Fountain Money Mountain report says, and who's gonna argue with that? =P

Just so you know, I did NOT throw any money into the Trevi Fountain when I was in Rome! =)

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Scene 10

My favorite part of the Christmas Spectacular was the tenth and final scene. It both shocked and amazed me! =) It started with a reading from the Scriptures...

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. ~ Luke 2:1-7


People and animals came on the scene as this was read:

Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another obscure village. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty, and then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office.

He never owned a home. He never set foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where He was born. He had no credentials but Himself. While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves.

His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth while He was dying -- and that was His coat. When He was dead, He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone and today He is the centerpiece of the human race and the leader of progress. I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever were built, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as that One SolitaryLife.

~ James A. Francis

And it ended with these words:

Hark! The herald angels sing. Glory to the newborn King!

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I LOVE NYC!!!

I went to see the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall for the first time in my life. It was AMAZING!!! C. and I took Mom as an early birthday gift. I think we surprised her. We told her we were taking her out, but not where, and even after we parked and were walking in the general direction of Radio City Music Hall, Mom was still not quite positive if that was where we were taking her. =)



The Rockettes were fabulous! I did not realize all that they did. They study in tap, jazz, and ballet! Plus, they have to be 5'7" (guess that rules out all you short people). =)

There was an entire scene that included all the most popular pieces of the the Nutcracker. That was one of my favorites.

I know this pic is a little on the blurry side, but yes, that is an ice skating rink that you see there!

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Tuesday, November 28, 2006

If I could just see you tonight

As you could probably tell from #1 on my hit-list, the ride home for Thanksgiving was anything but easy. It took me 2.5 hours to go 13 miles. It is enough to drive a person crazy! After about an hour an a hlf, I noticed a specialty license plate that helped me change the direction of my thoughts (which were headed nowhere good). The camera came out and I was able to amuse myself for the remaining hour of stop and go (more stop than go).

At 2:00 a.m. I was finally at a point where I could see what the big hold-up was: roadwork!

Yeah, DELDOT decided to close 3 lanes of traffic on a 4 lane highway on the day before the busiest travelling holiday of the year. Who makes these decisions?!

At 4:00 a.m. I was crossing the Varazano Bridge (what a wonderful sight!). I had been up for almost 24 hours straight and I was very near delerious. All I wanted to do was make it home and crawl into bed, which I did at 5:00 the morning before Thanksgiving.

It was all worth it in the end just to be home with my family for Thanksgiving!

Making my way downtown
Walking fast
Faces pass
And I'm home bound

Staring blankly ahead
Just making my way
Making a way
Through the crowd

And I need you
And I miss you
And now I wonder....

~ Vanessa Carlton
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Monday, November 27, 2006

On Today's Hit-list

  • DELDOT - for shutting down 3 lanes of traffic to do roadwork the day before Thanksgiving
  • NMCI - for kicking me off and deleting my emails
  • Joyce Motors - for not passing my car, citing a need for new windshield wipers - I still disagree!
  • EZ-Pass - for invalidating my tag a week before Thanksgiving and not bothering to inform me
  • Chase - for being their stupid Chase selves

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

People actually get paid for this?!?!

Forbes.com has determined that Daddy Warbucks (from Annie) is the richest fictional character. Thanks to the war in Iraq, his net worth has increased to $36.2 billion. The numbers are based on "commodity and share price movements or by comparing private businesses to comparable fictional public companies plus a "tiny grain of common sense and a large dose of salt.""

Friday, November 17, 2006

Why did I get up this morning?

It started out a pretty normal morning... I woke up to Dido, playing on the alarm clock radio, went through my regular routine of standing before my closet, dripping wet (having just gotten out of the shower) and freezing cold (because the heat in my apartment still isn't on), rummaging through my clothes, trying to decide which outfit will make me look least fat today. I proceded to the cabinet and fridge in search of breakfast, only to decide for the fifth time this week that there is nothing for breakfast in my apartment. So, I brushed my teeth, put on my make-up, poured some iced coffee in a travel mug, and ran out the door, locking it behind myself. I had to leave a few minutes early to stop by the library (I realized last night that the Arabic tapes were overdue - hate when that happens!). There was nothing good on the radio, so I put in an old cassette of songs I loved 10 years ago and sang at the top of my lungs, which wasn't actually all that loud thanks to the miserable cold I currently have. I got to the gate at work and flashed my ID... That was when my seemingly normal morning changed. The police at the gate grabbed my ID and told me to pull over to the side. I had NO idea what was going on as they circled my car, looking at the front and rear license plates. Finally, the woman who took my ID came to the window and informed me that my registration was expired and that I would not be allowed to park on base. Of course, she gave me the whole lecture first about how dangerous it is to allow that to expire and on and on... Then she tried to switch to good cop: "I could give you a $100 fine, but I am going to let you go with a verbal warning." A lot of good THAT does!!! My car is parked out on the street where there are TONS of police patrolling all the time. I am quite sure that I will have that fine by the end of the day. I was very tempted to just go back to my apartment and call it a day, but I didn't. Well, I guess the day has to get better from here on in. I really hope it can't get much worse... but then again I have to the DMV today, so maybe it will get worse. =/

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Back in my flat


Two weeks away it feels like the whole world should've changed
But I'm home now
And things still look the same
I think I'll leave it till tomorrow to unpack
Try to forget for one more night
That I'm back in my flat on the road
Where the cars never stop going through the night


Try to remind myself that I was happy here
Before I knew that I could get on the plane and fly away
From the road where the cars never stop going through the night
To a life where I can't watch sunset

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Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Ever wonder why?


As a child, I used to question why I was born in America and not Africa or Asia (where I was told children starve - my friend's parents told me that one; my own parents never used that line on me), or why, out of 50 states, I was born in the best one, or did I just think it was the best because I lived there, or why my parents were my parents, and why I wasn't born into some other family. Of course I concluded that I wouldn't have been me if things had happened any differently... so then I wondered why I existed in the first place. You may think I am kidding, or at the very least, exaggerating, but I actually remember a day at about 5 or 6 years old, sitting on the steps in front of my family's house, thinking up these very questions. So why am I thinking about these questions now? Well, it's just that while everything around me changes constantly, the questions never do. I still question why. Why am I where I am? What if I were somewhere else? Why am I doing what I am doing? Should I be doing something else? Of course, being the college-educated person that I am, I think about these things through a teleological perspective and ask what is my purpose in it all? Then I answer that with my reformed theological response: "to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." Since there are many paths leading to that end, I still lack the solid answers I seek. Will I always continue to wonder? I wonder... Posted by Picasa

Monday, November 13, 2006

My favorite picture from this past week


Ok, so it's my favorite two-pictures-in-one. I actually only took one of them; R took the other. By the way, that is a moonrise, not a sunrise. Pretty cool, don't ya think? Posted by Picasa

Monday, November 06, 2006

A day in GA and another in FL... it's a beautiful thing!

This is my favorite of the GA pics. I took it while we were walking around St. Simon's Island.
I have a thing for Spanish Moss. As one of my southern friends said, it is one of the few southern things I am crazy about (the heat would probably be the other =P).
I was about to make a left hand turn to get onto the I-95 South, when I saw the sun peeking out in the distance and had to get this shot. I don't think the guy waiting behind me was too thrilled. Thankfully, I was in the south where people are in less of a rush.
The next morning I woke up to a beautiful sunrise, and to my surprise, my hotel was right on the beach, so I went out and took some pictures (of course!).
This is my favorite of the FL pics!
I thought this one was cool and that is why I am including it. Some random older man walked up to me as I was taking pictures and said "you might want to hang around. there is a sub coming in. you could probably get a good picture of it." So I stayed and did get a pretty good picture if I do say so myself! =P
I liked this shell, but my pockets were already full, so I took a picture of it instead.

Saturday, November 04, 2006

Keep movin' on

Another cheap hotel
Two beds and a coffee machine
But there are groceries to buy
And she knows she'll have to go home...

...try and hide
another alibi to write
another lonely highway in the black of night
there's hope in the darkness
I know you're gonna make it

~ Savage Garden

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

So much to catch up on!

I have kinda been outta town, which is why I have not posted for a few days. But I have lots of pictures to post now, so maybe y'all can find it your hearts to forgive me for my cyber-silence.

On Saturday, I went on the White House garden tour with ma' homegirls. It was the first time I had done that tour and it was fabulous! The weather could not have been more perfect, the gardens were beautiful and the Marine Corp band (at least I thoink that's who it was... I couldn't quite see them up on the balcony) was playing all sorts of military marches and the like.

I don't know what those purple things are called, but I like them. =)

Great view of the White House, don't ya think?

The sky was amazing! The sun persistanty shone through the storm clouds, creating another reason for me to capture the breath-taking image with my little Nikon. Posted by Picasa

Friday, October 27, 2006

I am going to live to 104!

Yup. It's true. The death clock told me so. My date of death is Sunday, March 19, 20... (I can't tell you the year 'cuz then you'd be able to figure out how old I am now and I can't have that! Women are supposed to lie about their age. It's what they do).
Ok, so I do not usually do stupid things like that, but I saw the website and was curious...

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

A legendary day in the life of Islandgirl!

I bowled a 152, which in and of itself is a miracle, but even more miraculous... The first 4 frames were strikes! Can you believe it?! I was there, and it's hard for me to believe. Once again, people thought I was lying when I said I was a horrible bowler (this is the second time I've made myself look like a liar when bowling).

Feeling: Inadequate

It's a fear that keeps me wide awake
In the middle of the night
When the expectations are too great and the bar gets raised too high

So I do the best with what I've got
And hope that no one knows
That I strain to see how high I can
Try to stand on these toes
Until I'm measure, but you know better

~ Nichole Nordeman

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

One more reason to doubt my femininity

In a recent study, it was discovered that men make up the majority of early-morning commuters.
"Before 8 a.m. it's very much a guy thing. The earlier, the more male it is and after 8 a.m. women are actually the majority of the commuters."

I can't help it that I hate traffic and happen to be a morning person, but still, it makes me wonder...

I knew there was a good reason not to get married in a rush!

In a real life West Side Storyesque moment a man accidentially shoots his fiance, thinks he's killed her, and proceeds to shoot and kill himself. All this in an effort to speed up the already fast-approching wedding. (as reported in Reuters)

Let this be a warning to those of you who are in a rush to get married!

Friday, October 13, 2006

A couple of brown plants on the edges of some of those (forests) did catch on fire...

But a section of soldiers downwind from that had some ill effects and decided that was probably not the right course of action.

A Canandian General commenting on why burning down 10' marijuana plants in Afganistan is not a brilliant idea.

A day at Belmont Lake State Park

I was home with my family this past weekend and had a simply marvelous time! Even the weather was on its best behavior! We went to the beach a couple of times (Mom has those pics on her digital camera so I will not be able to post those until someone teaches her how to upload photos to Snapfish). =)

On Monday, we packed a picnic lunch and headed to the park... the leaves were just starting to change and looked so pretty I just had to take a couple of snapshots! =P

We rented a row boat and enjoyed our lunch in the middle of the lake, surrounded by ducks and seagulls.

I LOVE the way autumn foliage looks when reflected on the water!

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