LEGO's

Growing up I always wanted Lego's but never managed to receive them so in my early adult life I went through a Lego phase where I would buy myself Lego's, specifically Star Wars Lego's. This weekend I was at the Curves I workout at and they had gift tags with a child's gender, age and something they wanted. I happened to find a 12 year-old girl that wanted Lego's. As girl who grew up wanting Lego's but never received them I was all over that.

Later in the day I found myself in the vicinity of a Lego's store and seeing how I had just agreed to buy some Lego's I went in. Maybe this was foolish, but I didn't really expect to want to buy any for myself. I did find a set of Star Wars Lego's that I wouldn't mind adding to my collection but I didn't seriously consider buying. Then after I purchased my gift on the way out a noticed an Eiffel Tower set, I am not sure how I didn't notice it before because they had one set up and it was really quite tall. I didn't like Paris nor did I really enjoy being on the Eiffel Tower (the whole fear of heights got in the way) but for some reason I found myself looking for the price. I am not really sure why there is no way that the set was in a range where I would actually pay for it.

But then one the way out I thought to myself, "This is why I need to have boys." My next thought was along the lines of terror of having a girl that actually liked girly things because I don't think I would have any idea of what to do with that. But for now, once my nephews are a little older I can buy them fun Lego sets. And now I am pondering taking apart one of my sets so that I can put it back together.

This is going to be fun, right?

This week at work I was asked if I could help out with another project for a few days. I had been warned by my project manager that we had a lot going in December and I this would likely happen. But what specifically they asked me to do surprised me. Tomorrow I am flying to West Virginia as a part of a team of 4 from my company (and I am the only female on the trip). There is an existing building there that we are doing the renovation on so we have to go out there to look at what equipment and such is already there.


On Friday everyone at work kept asking me if I was excited about it. My honest answer to that is yes and no. I think it will be fun to be out of the office and go somewhere new for a few days. It will also be nice to get to know some of my coworkers better. I don't any of the other 3 going all that well. That also brings to why I am not so excited about it. I don't know these guys all that well and that is going to be a lot of time with them. Also, I look forward to flying so that I can sit and read for several hours but now I am going to be sitting next to a coworker so are they going to expect me to interact? Of course there is the wondering of how many hours we will be working - 8,10,12? And what we will do at night when we are done working? But if we survived Europe without any trauma I can survive West Virginia with a few coworkers for a couple of days, right? I am just trying to go into this with a open mind. Only time will tell...

"You look like you need a hug"

I heard this twice yesterday. The second time was at BSF where one of my girlfriends said it to another one of my girlfriends, a pretty common scene at BSF so nothing unusual there. But the first time made me do a double take. I was at work where one of the male engineers said it to my project manager, another man. I don't believe I have ever heard one man utter that phrase to another - especially engineers. Maybe I am stereotyping engineers but in the year I have been there the guys in my office have not come across real touchy-feely.

And as I side note - I do feel like I need a hug right now. I just attempted to make a dessert for Thanksgiving that I had never made before and it didn't turn out at all. In the grand scheme of life it is rather small and insignificant but I am sad anyway. And now I stressing out about what to do instead - do I go back to the grocery store for the 3rd time tonight or wait till tomorrow? And then when I do go back do I just buy something pre-made or do I make something tomorrow night that I have made in the past? Hmm...

A New Google Function

I come up with a new Google search function that I would like to see. I would like to search an image - I upload an image and Google come up with matching images or I guess sites with that image. The reason for this is that I have found some building that we took pictures of, particularly in Paris that I have no idea what it is.

For example, we have 12 pictures of this building in Paris and I am not sure what it is. And you think that if we bothered to take 12 pictures I might remember what it is. But apparently not.



Or an other example, again in Paris, but we only took 5 pictures of this one but again not sure what it is. If Angie or Suzanne or anyone else who has been to Paris can remember what they are please fill me in. Thanks.

Too Many Pictures?

I have decided that I want to do a scrapbook of my Europe trip. To do this I must decide which pictures I want to use. Between Angie, Suzanne and I we have a total of approximately 2100 pictures of our trip. So deciding which pictures to use will be no easy task and time consuming but hopefully in the end it will be worth it and so far it has been fun, although tedious.


In the process of doing this I have wondered if perhaps we took a few too many pictures. For example, we were only in Salzburg, Austria for 24 hours but managed to take 530 pictures in that time (for comparison we were in Paris for 36 hours but took 360 pictures). And while I obviously can't show you 530 pictures I did find something fun that I can show you. There were many instances all 3 of us took many pictures of the same object so below is a video of a series of pictures we took. Here the object is the house that was used as the back of the house in "The Sound of Music."

Note: When I tried it I had to hit the play button twice to get it to play but it did work.

Colorado Weather

So how about this for a quick change in weather? Yesterday was a beautiful day, in the low 80's, and then about 7:30 last night a cold front moved in so then this morning I wake up to an inch of snow and it is still SNOWING! Welcome to Colorado, you never know what to expect. And on occasion the weatherman may actually get it right.

I think this actually may be the earliest I have experienced snow in Denver, Mother Nature usually likes to save the first snow until Halloween. I thought I had experienced some bad weather Halloween's growing up in Michigan. It's amazing to me that generally the weather in Colorado is much nicer than Michigan but consistently year after year the weather on this one specific day of the year can be absolutely miserable.

But on the flip side I know I can look forward to a few 70 degree days in February. So this morning as I drive to church in the snow I will try to look forward to that.

"There is a cow in the parking lot"

So yesterday afternoon while at work one of the owner's of the firm walks by and says "Our cow is out in the parking lot if you want to see it. Karla (his wife) brought it by to get it ready for trick-or-treating." At first I thought this was some kind of joke and I was missing something. No, there really was a cow in the parking lot.




While we are all standing there in the parking lot looking at the cow one of my coworkers says to Roger, "So is there some sort of return on this investment? Does the cow increase in value?" Actually they intend to breed her and sell the babies. I have never heard of such a thing, I mean other than people who have farms or ranches. I guess they keep her at a farm and they are hosting a trick or treating thing, hence the getting ready for trick or treating.

So yesterday I got to pet a cow at work. I didn't know cows could have that much hair. And she drools A LOT. Then last night some of my fellow BSF leaders were asking me what breed of cow she is. Tell me how a girl who grows up in the suburbs of Detroit would know the different breeds of cows.

All About Baseball

Because I like hockey a lot of people assume that I watch all sports. For the most part that is not true. I do enjoy watching the Olympics and on occasion tennis or some other sport in the playoffs. But I have never really gotten into baseball, or at least not until this year. The MLB playoffs started a week ago and I watched at least a couple innings of all 4 match-ups in round 1. Why this year?


It is at least partially because the Colorado Rockies made it to the playoffs this year for the first time since 1995 and only the second time in their history. It is about all anyone in Denver is talking about and it is exciting to see this team that no one believed in succeed. But why I am watching every other series as well or why did I stay up last Saturday night to see if the Rockies would pull off the 1st round sweep? Or why I am watching the game now rather than finishing my BSF (which I know means I will be up late to get it done)? I am not sure why I am watching all this baseball but I can appreciate the ability to multi-task during a baseball game and still have a good idea of what is going on. I have tried many times during a hockey game but for the most part with hockey I am either watching it or it is on in the background. But tonight I have learned that I cannot do BSF and watch a baseball game. For whatever the reason, I am enjoying watch the Rockies this year. Who knows, maybe I will become a football fan? But don't hold your breath on that one and for now...

GO ROCKIES!!

One Year Later

It was one year ago yesterday that I worked my last day at Trane having no idea what God had in mind for me, trusting him but scared out of my mind. I didn't know if my future involved real estate appraising like I had desired or engineering or something completely different. Considering what the real estate market and mortgage industry has gone through in the last few months I am very glad real estate didn't work out or my house may have been another in a long list of foreclosures.


A week ago Thursday I left work at 7:00 after 11 hours of work. I had actually expected to do 12 or 13 hours in order to get everything done. So as I walking out out of the office I laughed at the idea that I considered working 11 hours a victory. Then I pondered where I was a year ago and wondered if I considered the new job to be a victory over the old one. And you know what, I do. I may work more than I did before (which I do get cranky about sometimes) but this job rarely makes me want to pound my head against something - Trane left me feeling that way on an almost daily basis. This job challenges me in a way that challenges my skills as an engineer not in a way that challenges my personality traits. For example, my inherit desire to work on one thing for an extended length of time without interruption at Trane I was lucky if I got to go more than 20 minutes without interruption.


So I may not be where I wanted to be but obviously God what he was doing. And I don't know that I want to do this forever but I can trust God to continue to lead me where he would have me go.

A Confession

I have a confession to make. The date is September 27th and I am listening to Christmas music. I have always been one of those people who lives by the rule that Christmas music is only to be enjoyed during the Christmas Season, which does not begin until Thanksgiving and ends on New Year's Day. In fact I had a college roommate who loved to listen to Christmas music all year long and it bothered me so much I took all her Christmas music and hid it until Thanksgiving. (Or did I take it after Christmas and give it back while we were moving out? I don't remember now)

I have actually been listening to this CD all year long since last Christmas. At first I justified it because I ordered shortly before Christmas last year and due to the blizzards in Denver I didn't receive it until after the holidays. Then I heard one of the songs on the radio in February or March and I thought, "Well if they can play it now then I can listen to my CD." Then tonight I tried to justify it by telling myself that there were none of the traditional Christmas songs on the CD but that is only half true. Then I moved to the fact that I am studying Matthew for BSF and we have been studying Matthew 1 and 2 so that reminds me of Christmas. But the truth of it is that I love this CD and I wanted to listen to it even though it isn't Thanksgiving yet. (For those who "need" to know it is "Do You See What I See?" by Todd Angew.)

And I have to say that I have been humored as I wrote this that I am trying to justify breaking rules that exist only in my head. And none of you would ever know about any of this except that I am bothering to tell you.

My Personality

The other day I was reading on a newspaper's website and there was an editorial about this free online personality test. I find these things fun and interesting so I decided to take it. Below are the results, which are the standard results for me.

Your personality type:
Serious and quiet, interested in security and peaceful living. Extremely thorough, responsible, and dependable. Well-developed powers of concentration. Usually interested in supporting and promoting traditions and establishments. Well organized and hard working, they work steadily towards identified goals. They can usually accomplish any task once they have set their mind to it.

Careers that could fit you includes:
Business executives, administrators and managers, accountants, police, detectives, judges, lawyers, medical doctors, dentists, computer programmers, systems analysts, computer specialists, auditors, electricians, math teachers, mechanical engineers, steelworkers, technicians, (militia members).

This reminds me of when I got the results of the Myers-Briggs 2 years ago - ISTJ's make great accountants and engineers. It is interesting that this one specifically said mechanical engineers and I am a little (or a lot) frightened by the militia members. I honestly think my personality written out in this way makes me sound very boring but accurate which makes me a little sad. Anyway, I also think being a mechanical engineering sounds boring so it is amazing to me how many people recently have said "Oh cool" when I told them what I do. I never quite sure how to respond when someone says that because I am wondering if they are just being polite because how could anyone think that sounds cool.

If you are interested in taking the same test here is the link: http://www.41q.com/

The Making of the Name Tags

Displayed on the right are all of my BSF name tags through the years. As a BSF discussion leader I get to make name tags for my group (or have to make them depending on how you look at it). How I look at it seems to vary depends on how things are going in the process. In the beginning I get to make them, somewhere in the middle I becomes that I have to and then in the end I get to again.


My creation for last year is the purple one on the right. My biggest dilemma was what combination of colors to use, I think at one point I had 4 name tags with the same design but different colors on my entertainment center. I don't think the women in my group paid much attention to them last year but as one of them was confronted with the possibility of making them for the staff this year she took a closer look and then complimented me on them.


This year (the red and blue one in the center) the design and colors was far more simply but the difficulty came in getting the new laptop with Vista, the existing 5 year old printer and the thicker blue paper to play nicely together. My printer doesn't like the blue paper and seems to jam every time I print on it (or it has so far) and every time I get a paper jam Vista decides it doesn't recognize the printer and I have to reload the printer software AND the printer drivers in order to print again. It took a week of emailing HP back and forth with HP to figure out the driver part of it. (And of course the older computer doesn't have the font I picked so I can't print them from that computer.) Maybe next year I can manage to make them without so much drama/trauma...

CamelBak Woes

While in Europe my CamelBak started to leak water and I wasn't able to figure out the problem while we were there but it happened at least twice and I think there was a third occasion when this occurred. I am going camping and probably hiking this weekend so I pulled it out and filled it with water and I have left it in many different positions to see what the problem is or if I should just go buy a new bladder. Now that I am at home there doesn't seem to be any problem. So I see a few possibilities - one being that as soon as I take it hiking it will begin to leak again or for some reason my CamelBak doesn't like Europe and therefore refuses to work there or the third possibility that something happened but there was a miraculous healing while flying back across the ocean.

This weekend I may have an answer to the problem but if not I just may have to go back to Europe to solve the mystery.

UPDATE: The CamelBak had water in it pretty much the whole weekend and I never had a problem. So either it doesn't like Europe or there was a miraculous healing. Any volunteers on "The Whirlwind European Tour Part 2" to help solve the mystery?

Spiritual Splinching

Maybe you didn't see this coming but I knew it was only a matter of time before I related Harry Potter to my spiritual journey.


Tonight I began reading "Get Out of That Pit" by Beth Moore and on the first page she says, "The laws of physics tell you that if you try to go one place without leaving another, you're in a for a pretty severe stretch." This immediately made me think of splinching in the world of Harry Potter. For those who don't read Harry splinching occurs when you attempt to disappear and immediately appear somewhere else but part of your body appears in the new location while leaving the rest of your body in the previous location. Splinching in the world of Harry occurs when you are not wholly focused on the new location.


I think this occurs in some sense spiritually for me, not that I can think of an instance where I can think of being in two places spiritually, but that I know I am stuck in some sort of pit and I want to get out but I don't allow myself to focus wholly on where I want to be which is walking along side of Christ. Some of my common reasons for remaining stuck is that I get distracted or more accurately I allow myself to get distracted. But for me I think a more common problem is that I am afraid to leave, I don't like where I am but a part of me is afraid of the unknown and I may not like my pit but I know what to expect from it. Or a second common reason for me to remain there is that I am afraid of the pain that is involved in climbing out, the rational part of me knows that it will be worth every minute of the pain to reach the other side but the rest of me needs to be thrown on the path before I will dare to walk the path.


I don't know what the book will say about getting out of the pit but I know enough to know that it won't be easy and I will still want to resist for some reason or other but if I chose to focus on Christ alone he will lift me out of pit and give me a firm place to stand.

My Own Bed

This weekend my parents were in town and when they come to town I let them have my bed and I sleep in the guest bedroom where the futon isn't big enough for 2 people. Normally I don't have any problems sleeping on the futon but the whole time they were here I didn't get a single good night of sleep. They returned home yesterday and I the first time I walked into my bedroom, looked at my bed and took in the smell of my room I had a strong desire to just go to bed (which I fought by reading several chapters of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows").

At first I was very excited about the idea of getting a good nights sleep but then I remembered that my own bed actually failed me for several nights after returning from Europe. But not last night - I got a great nights sleep:) And I am looking forward to repeating it all again tonight.

Mission Accomplished! (But no spoilers)

I succeed in reading all of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" in a single weekend. I will definitely need to go back and reread at a slower pace to take it all in. But I enjoyed the book and some things definitely didn't play out like I expected but it was good and worth the read. (But if you have any invested in Harry how are you not going to read, regardless of my opinion?)

Friday night at the bookstore was fun - I have never been so excited and/or nervous about buying and reading a book before and I doubt I will ever be again. Gretchen I got outside the Barnes and Noble with our books and read the Table of Contents together, we stood there and excitably named chapter numbers that we thought sounded interesting or exciting or intriguing.

The one funny moment of my reading occurred when I was reading a particularly tense scene yesterday afternoon while sitting in my over sized chair next the front window when the mailman walked by. This blocked all the light from the window and scared me to death, I nearly fell out of the chair.

To not give anything away to those who have not finished, or even started yet, that is all I will say.

Number 104

Tonight I will be at a bookstore at midnight to purchase my copy of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" and I will be the 104th person to purchase it at the Barnes & Noble of my prior choosing. I have never done a midnight release of any book or movie but this is the one time where it is worth it and I am really excited about it. (How much of a dork am I?)

So at about 1:00 this morning I will hold in my hands the answers to all of my questions. What does "deathly hallows" mean? Will Harry, Ron or Hermonie die? (I really hope no to all 3 of them, and I would really like Ginny to survive so that she and Harry can some day get married.) Who will die? How will Voldemort die? Is Snape good or evil? What about Draco Malfoy? And so many others.

After I purchase it and walk out of the bookstore it is up to me to read all of it. Earlier in the week I had visions of myself starting to read it in the parking lot but then thought "How am I going to drive myself home?" Obviously I can't do that because once I start I don't know that I am going to be able to stop reading. But will I really be awake enough to read when I get home? Hmm...

I have never completed a Harry Potter book in the span of a single weekend but I am going to try - I have very little planned for this weekend on purpose. I started "Half-Blood Prince on a Saturday afternoon and finished Tuesday night but I don't think I tried very hard. And I tend to be one of those people who flip towards the end to get glimpse of what is going to happen, I never flip to the last page but usually somewhere in the range of 2-3 chapters to the end where the climax is likely to occur. Hopefully I will be able to overcome this temptation because I will hate myself if I spoil it.

And it will all begin in just under 6 hours...

5 Most Interesting People

Following the idea of "The Greatest Hits" we starting discussing some other lists of 5 that we could come up and I wrote a number of them on the plane ride home so here is another list. Maybe at some point if I can come up with a list that is just a list rather than a short story with each number I will combine a few but for now here are the 5 most interesting people (or actually 6 most interesting people)...


5 Most Interesting People:
My working definition of "interesting person": someone that stands out in my mind for whatever reason and I have very likely told several people the story involving this person.


Honorable Mention (because I couldn't narrow it down to 5): The Indian businessmen we met on the train from Salzburg to Munich who asked if we were students and thought our accents could be British.

5. The woman in the cafe where we ate breakfast in Paris - I remember her because she is the one nice person we came across in Paris - Suzanne didn't eat anything but got an orange juice which we were not charged for and it was fresh squeezed, the orange peels were still sitting on the bar. Not only do you not come across fresh squeezed in the States, you don't get anything for free.

4. The woman who waited on me at the Beatles Tour Museum in Liverpool - she could identify my accent as being from the Midwest and when I said I was originally from Michigan she started naming the Great Lakes. I didn't ask where she was from but her accent seemed like a combination of American and British, not really one or the other.

3. The woman who was our tour guide for The Sound of Music Tour, Nancy. She was very excited about The Sound of Music - if I did it for a living I know I would get sick and tired of it. And at one point she said she was going to stop talking to help with traffic, I assumed that she was just going to talk the bus driver through the tough spot but she got of the bus and stopped all traffic going the other way.

2. This is the story that has been told the most - we were across the street from the Cathedral of Notre Dame and I bought a crepe from a street vendor and when she handed it to me I said "thank you" the lady behind me in line hit me for saying it in English.

1. And lastly the immigration guy going into England - Angie went thought before me and then I when I stepped up he asked me if we were traveling together and of course I said yes. He then responded with "She is a governess and your an engineer?" with a look that said he didn't really think an engineer and a governess would be traveling together or maybe that we shouldn't be traveling together.

Greatest Hits

One night over dinner, I believe we were in London but I can't be sure now, we were discussing Lost and based on Charlie's list of greatest hits we started listing our "greatest hits" of the trip. So here is my list of greatest hits from the trip...


Top 5 moments (or extended periods of time) of the trip:

1. The Sound of Music Tour - if you are ever in Salzburg I strongly recommend it, not only do you get to see a lot of places in the movie you see quite a bit of Salzburg and the surrounding countryside.


2. The first night we were in London - we didn't have anything planned so it almost felt like extra time and we just wandered around. We walked through St James Park and stopped and watched some birds then we walked over to Buckingham Palace and then went and ate a good dinner (something we should have done more of while traveling).


3. The Cathedral of Notre Dame - I didn't really enjoy Paris but this was my favorite of anything we saw in Paris and my favorite of all the cathedrals or churches that we saw.


4. The first time we stepped out of the subway systems in Paris and London. In Paris the first time we came out of the subway we knew we were at the stop for The Arc de Triomphe but as we came up the escalator it was right there in front of us, it was a great sight. Then in London it was similar, the first time we came out of the subway we were right next to Big Ben. I thought it was pretty remarkable that some of my first glimpse of each of these cities were of things that represent their respective cities.


5. Eating dinner at The Eagle and Child in Oxford - this is one of the places that CS Lewis and Tolkien used to get together and discuss what they were writing. For me it was just neat to reflect on that while eating dinner there. (I guess I will mention that the other two didn't feel well after eating there but I felt fine.)

Back Home!

After 12 days in Europe I returned home yesterday. It is good to be home. It is good to sleep in my own bed and use my own shower. It is good not have to worry about whether or not I will be able to find a bathroom when I need one and what that bathroom will look like, or if I will have to pay for it. It is nice to be able to know where I will eat my next meal and be able to plan for it. I have already had my first Chipotle burrito since arriving in Denver just over 24 hours ago.

But what I don't understand is that after 12 days of missing my own bed and quilt is that once I was in my own bed (and after a 22 hour day so I was plenty tired) I didn't sleep very well. Out of 9 different hotels room and a sleeper train only twice did I wake in Europe and have no idea where I was. Last night at least 3 times I woke up and had to figure out where I was.

So wasn't so fun to go back to work, but let's face it, I have make money to be able to finish paying for it.

Oh, and I haven't said this yet but it was a great trip and I very glad that I went. Details, stories and my favorites of my 400+ photos are in the works.

The Itinerary

For those of you who, like Sabrina, would like to live vicariously through Suzanne and I, I decided to post our itinerary and the highlights of what we expect to see.

Saturday June 23 - I travel from Denver to Vienna
Highlights: I meet Suzanne in Chicago where we enjoy a 2.5 hour layover and 9 hour flight together.

Sunday June 24 - We arrive in Vienna in the morning and meet Angie
Highlights: To be determined in flight by reviewing a travel guide and avoiding anything Angie does by herself on Saturday; hopefully finding one of the churches I picked out in Vienna so we can worship with other believers (in English!)

Monday June 25 - Vienna and then travel to Salzburg via train.
Highlights: We continue exploring Vienna in the morning, then my first train ride (or that I can remember anyway) and then begin exploring Salzburg

Tuesday June 26 - Salzburg (overnight train to Paris)
Highlights: Sound of Music tour followed by more exploring of Salzburg and then boarding a train to Paris where we get to enjoy the experience of bunk beds on a train (I am sure there will be pictures of this)

Wednesday June 27 - Paris
Highlights: We have haven't specifically discussed but I am sure the Eiffel Tower and other common tourist sights in Paris; finding out how rude the people in Paris really are

Thursday June 28 - Paris and Chunnel to London
Highlights: More exploring of Paris, another train ride and then I finally make it England where I have been dreaming about going for years. YEAH!!

Friday June 29 - Drive to Oxford
Highlights: We pick up the rental car and Suzanne drives us to Oxford (I am sure this will exciting in of itself); exploring Oxford and many CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien and Harry Potter sites, among other things

Saturday June 30 - Bath
Highlights: I am sure we will see some Jane Austen sights among other things

Sunday July 1 - Liverpool
Highlights: Stonehenge; hopefully see some moors and a Beatles Tour in Liverpool

Monday July 2 - Return to London
Highlights: In route to London we are going to stop at the Chatsworth House - used as Mr Darcy's house in the most recent version of "Pride & Prejudice"; "Merchant of Venice" at the Globe Theatre

Tuesday July 3 - London
Highlights: Exploring London including the Big Bus Tour

Wednesday July 4 - Return Home
Highlights: Suzanne and I enjoy a second international flight and return to the States and Angie stays a few more days with a friend in London

Thursday July 5 - Return to Work
Highlights: I return to work very jet-lagged and sleep deprived and in need a vacation from my vacation

What are the moments in life that make you most happy?

This is the question that the DJ's on the morning radio show I listen to in the morning asked this morning. When I considered the question the first thing that came to mind was great conversation with good friends. And great conservations can be a wide range of things whether serious about the world we live in, how we relate to each other or what God is doing in our lives or not so serious such as Harry Potter, Lost, hockey or random conservations that just run all over.

Another reason to be excited for my upcoming trip - 12 days of worth of great conversation with 2 good friends.

Sometimes engineers lack common sense

Here is a post that has nothing to do with Europe and actually happened a while ago (as will become obvious) but I just downloaded the pictures onto my computer tonight.


Last January I bought 2 cases of Coke and because I am lazy I left them in the trunk of my car over the weekend not considering that it was to be one of the coldest weekends of the year. I think the high temperature for the entire weekend was about 8 degrees. So needless to say the Coke froze and Coke, like ice, expands when frozen which caused several cans in each case to burst. I remember one of my middle school science teachers saying a can would burst if frozen but had never seen it, until last January that is.

Taking Photos

Last night I was at a birthday party for a friend and everyone was telling me to be sure to take lots of pictures. At one point I kind of laughed at this and a friend made the comment "You would be surprised how often you think 'I don't need a need a picture of this' and I come back not really taking many pictures." My response was, "I took 24 pictures of the Statue of Liberty, I don't think is going to be my problem." In reality I think I took 17 pictures of the Statue of Liberty but I still don't think I am going to come home thinking I didn't take enough pictures. This will be one of the advantages of digital - I can take a ton of photos in the moment and then delete out all ones that don't turn out or are duplicates without ever having to develop them.

This afternoon I got another piece of advice that I should follow. My friend Chrissy said to be sure to take pictures with people in them. She said some of her favorite pictures from her trip to Ireland were ones were she took pictures of random guys wearing kilts. I do manage to get home from trips and have a ton of pictures of the sights and landscapes but no people. So my goal with be to take pictures of people, both random and my friends.

And I wonder how many pictures of our shoes will be taken and how many will remain on the cameras. Suzanne inherited this desire to take pictures of people's shoes from her father. The first time she did it I thought it was crazy but then I started doing it. The tend has passed even farther, then later my friend Lori came over was looking at the pictures on my camera and commented on the pictures of people's shoes and thought it was a little crazy. But then she proceeded to start taking pictures (with my camera) of our shoes. So the tend continues and I can't help wonder if Angie will pick it up and if I come home with pictures of shoes in every city we visit.

The Rafting Trip

Today my company finally put the pictures from our rafting trip on the server. At the time this picture was taken we were going through some rapids backwards. Throughout the day my raft often found ourselves going backwards. The guy in front with his paddle up in the air rather than helping us paddle is Tom, who is one of the company owners. Later in the afternoon I yelled at him for talking and messing around when we were suppose to be paddling. I don't think I am ever going to live that down, yesterday he walked by my desk and said, "Kerri, I will try to remain quiet and stay focused."

The most exciting event of the day was when one of the newest employees at MEP and the only new guy to go on the trip fell out and ended up under the raft. He wasn't in my raft so I didn't experience the excitement first hand but it was entertaining to hear it retold. This may be true of any group of people but I loved watching the engineers recover from their panic and then recount the story. They wavered back and forth from total drama to just facts and complete lack of emotion. The guy who fell out usually seems on the end of panic in office but seemed pretty calm about the whole experience and one of the least emotional guys in the office was the guy in the raft who paniced the most. The joys of watching how your coworkers relate to real life experiences.

Encouraging Verse of the Day

We can make our own plans, but the LORD gives the right answer.
(Proverbs 16:1, NLT)

I get a scripture verse emailed to everyday and this was today's and it made me stop and think more than usual. The first thing that went through my mind based on the first half of the verse was all the times I tried to make my plans but God had something very different in mind, such as my recent career change attempt. Thankfully, the thought made me laugh a little. But I also really liked the end of the verse because although if you had asked me a year ago where I wanted to be today I definitely would have had a different answer but I can rest in peace knowing that I am where I know God wants me, and it's not as bad as I would have expected. (Hey, I am going to Europe in a week and half and my plan wouldn't have allowed that.)

As I was thinking about this verse also made me stop and praise God that he is in control of life despite what I may try to do and is always working for my good.

Expectations & Preparation

This weekend I have been thinking about my expectations for my upcoming trip to Europe and whether or not I am really prepared for this trip.

For instance last week I was looking at a map of Vienna and of course all the street names are in German and this made me realize that this will be my first time traveling in a country where the primary language is not English. Do I expect that we will have problems with this or do I think it will be no big deal? Now that I have been thinking about it I think it will be somewhere in the middle - not a huge problem but it will make things interesting. So am I prepared for this? I am prepared to walk into a restaurant and have the menu be in a different language? What will it be like to have most of the street chatter around me be in a different language?

What do I expect from Austria? I really don't know, I don't really know much about Vienna or Salzburg but sometimes that is more fun. I have had good luck with exploring cities I don't know anything about.

What do I expect from Paris? Really, I am not that interested in Paris so I expect nothing from Paris. So I guess for me Paris can only go up. I guess I expect the people there to be rude because that this all I have ever heard but I am really prepared for that? I don't think so but we'll find out in about two and a half weeks.

What do I expect from England? I expect it be awesome and decide that I want to move to Oxford, Liverpool or some other lovely place there. Have I prepared myself for anything other than this? No but maybe I should.

Do I expect the two friends I am doing this trip with and who have never met each other to really get along? I do. But I am prepared for the moments that they don't? Or the moments where I don't get along with one of them? I don't know that I am prepared for those moments but I should expect them because I don't know that it is possible for 3 people to travel together for 12 days and expect us to get along ALL the time. But prayer is probably a great way to start preparing - that conflict be kept to a minimum and resolved quickly and in a Christ-like manner.

I am trying to keep my expectations a minimum and be as prepared as possible but the more I think about it the harder that is going to be.

A Huge Relief

I just check the status of my passport - it has been mailed and I should receive it on Wednesday! So I don't have to worry about not getting it or calling them, this is their disclaimer about calling:

"We are currently experiencing a very high volume of calls. Please expect delays if you wish to speak to a customer service representative. You may have to call several times before reaching a representative. However, please note that representatives are available from 6:00 a.m. to 12 midnight, ET, Monday-Friday, except federal holidays. Representatives are also available for limited weekend hours for emergency situations in which travelers are leaving in 7 days or less. "

I have already been hung up on by some guy in India who works for Orbitz this weekend so I didn't want to have to call the passport office several times. YEAH!!!

Wireless!

I got my new laptop yesterday and so of course everything I had intended to do with my Saturday got thrown out the window and the day was spent setting up the new computer (and playing with my new toy). I was a little worried about it not going well and being cut off from the Internet. But that didn't happen and I now have a secure wireless Internet network in my home. (Not that I should have worried too much since the old computer is on the network and works just as long it decides to play along.) I am far more proud of myself for this than I should be, especially since the software that came with the router did everything so it was very easy. Now I have to transfer data from the old computer to the new computer and figure out how to print but those are going to projects for later on in the week but for now I am enjoying using the Internet while watching a movie.

One Difference Between Men and Women

Today one of the differences between men and women was highlighted in my office. This came in the form of the women worrying about what to wear tomorrow and the men just rolling their eyes when they overheard what we women are discussing. Tomorrow's attire is causing concern because the company is taking us white water rafting which means the problem of wearing bathing suits and of course what else to wear over the top of them to cover up. The issue is complicated by the fact that the water is currently 48 degrees so the rafting company is recommending wetsuits which of course hide nothing.

As I was just in bedroom trying to decide what to bring with me this image came to mind of the 4 women of the company standing in huddle staring at each other with the expressions of "What do we do? I don't think I want to do this." This was very humorous and ridiculous to me but somehow I will think it will occur, or at least in some part. And I find myself not wanting to care but I do. For example I had been planning on wearing shorts and one of the women said, "I know one thing, I am not wearing shorts." I have now spent the rest of the day wondering why, still haven't figured that one out but I am now questioning if I should wear shorts. So I obviously have not decided what to wear.

One last thought, at the end of one conversation about the attire issue of one the women said, "I will have to talk to the guys about coming up with a company outing that doesn't cause all this stress for the women about what to wear." My thought was, "I don't think one exists." I didn't say this out load but I believe that anything outside the office with coworkers is going to cause stress to women when deciding what to wear.

Jane Austen & Singleness

I was recently talking to the woman who runs the book club at church, Kathleen, and she was retelling a conversation she had with another woman who was single and really not happy about being single. The woman asked Kathleen if she thought God had a man in mind for everyone and Kathleen responded, “No but I think Jane Austen does.” And the woman didn’t know who Jane Austen was. How sad to have never experienced “Pride & Prejudice” in any form.


And speaking of Jane Austen I have to point out that 5 weeks from today I will be visiting Bath where anybody who was anybody in a Jane Austen book visited so I guess now I could be someone in the eyes of Jane Austen.

Reflections on Romans

Last Monday night was share night at BSF with the completion of the study of Romans. (For those who have never done BSF - share night is the when we stay together as one large group rather than dividing into our small groups and you have the oppertunity to share what God has taught you through the study and your personal life together.) As a leader I have to share what I learned through the study at the leaders fellowship which was last Friday night. I spent the week leading up to to the fellowship and the week following it trying to pinpoint what God has taught me through the last 9 months while doing this study. I came up with an answer for Friday night but I didn't love my answer nor did I really feel that I loved the study of Romans.

So after two weeks of contemplating I think God was trying to squish me like a bug. Or said differently - teach me humility. Let's review the last 9 months:

• I tried to do a career change which failed.
• I lost my job which then forced me back to the career I was trying to leave (although I must admit that I enjoy the new engineering much more than I ever thought possible).
• While I enjoyed all the individual girls in my BSF group they were challenging group in that they were quiet and inconsistent.
• I had to put my dog to sleep.
• My bathroom flooded.
• All while studying Romans.

In considering the BSF studies that I have completed and loved I could see a consistent theme in what God was teaching me. All the way through Genesis no matter the scripture I walked away with the lesson to trust in God no matter how things look (not sure how well I applied that this year). The only lesson I walked away with consistently from Romans was that I suck as person and in my walk with Christ. Even when we got past the first several chapters of Romans and Paul was trying to be encouraging I didn't really feel encouraged. Not that I wasn't encouraged by Romans 8 but not in the same proportion that I was feeling squished.

The very last question of the year was "How will you give glory to God for all He has done in history and in your won personal life this year?" And to be honest that was a really hard question for me to answer because I didn't really feel praising God for this last year. I sat on that question for days and in the end I wrote down "I don't know - I have been feeling uninspired recently" and went into leaders meeting praying I wouldn't be asked to share on that one.

So now looking forward I hope this grows into realizing that despite that I suck He still loves me and I would learn to experience the freedom I have in that love. And also see and be able to praise Him for all amazing ways He has provided for me. Some of them being my friends and family, that I do love the new job, I am going to Europe for the first time next month, I have some new friendships that will continue to grow from my group of women, etc. I am not all the way there yet but I can feel it starting to grow.

"All of our praise rises to the One is strong enough to make
you strong, exactly as preached in Jesus Christ, precisely as revealed in the mystery kept secret for so long but now open book through the prophetic Scriptures... All our praise is focused through Jesus on
this comparably wise God! Yes!"

(Romans 16:25, 27, The Message)

Laptop verses Desktop

Due to problems with my current computer I have decided to buy a new one. As I started looking one of the first questions I had to decide was a laptop versus a desktop. I currently have desktop and don't really image myself really carrying a laptop too far outside of my home so initially I didn't see any reason for a laptop. But recently this idea that somehow having a laptop to able use anywhere within my home would greatly enhance my life.

For example, I am sitting upstairs in my guest bedroom doing this, booking hotels for my upcoming trip to Europe, verifying the computer I want to buy, etc while the Wings are playing and therefore I can't watch the game and get all this done. So instead I have a second window open with the score that I check compulsively. (They are currently ahead 1-0 with 17 minutes left in the 3rd period.) And I believe it was last Sunday night the Wings were in overtime and I was upstairs on the Internet, the TV was on downstairs and at one point I thought I heard the announcer say someone scored so I go racing down the stairs only to find that nothing had happened (the Wings later lost). And then on Tuesday I was again working on the Europe trip and by the time I got around to turning on the game it was 4-0 Wings, which is great I just wish I could have seen some of it. Thursday I did nothing on the Europe trip so that I could watch the game.

So I think you get the point, so I have decided to buy a laptop. And I realize that is won't change my life but maybe I will be a little better about corresponding and help this blog to be a success.