Momentous

I feel like today is a momentous occasion. No not because I am ahead on homework and not because I made it through the day with no caffeine. More important than those (and neither of those are possible). I sent off my fund raising packet. Ahhh!

It may not seem like a big deal but it is. I never knew how anxiety provoking fund raising could be. I feel so vulnerable. I mean I am really putting myself out there. I am not just presenting what I plan to do but who I am. This is so much a part of me! What if I am rejected? I was seriously shaking a little bit this afternoon as I hit the send button.

Some days I wish I had thicker skin.

Not only do I feel vulnerable about presenting myself on paper, I also take fund raising and money in missions VERY seriously. I am not flippantly asking for money to go hang out in South America for a few years. I am asking for churches to partner with me in a place that God is already working but that needs the hope of Jesus Christ. This is serious business. I am aware of that daily.

As scary as it is, it is also very exciting and freeing. This packet I sent off was my semester goal and it is done! What a weight lifted off my shoulders. It will still need to be tweaked as time goes on but it is pretty much done and I am quite proud of it. I feel like it looks good and communicates well what I plan to do, why I plan to go, who I am, who my team is etc. Or at least as well as can be presented in 11 pages...I seriously could go on for days. :)

This whole missionary thing is a bigger roller coaster than I ever expected it to be but I am so thankful and excited to be on this journey. Whether churches reject me or not, GOD has affirmed this plan and who I am. That is what is important. I need to keep reminding myself of that.

Thanks to those who contributed, fixed my poor grammar and lack of comma usage, gave me feedback and encouragement. I am blessed.

Intern Video Application

So our mission team has to make a video in the next month or so for the A&M church we will be working with. We have been talking about it some and it reminded me of this HILARIOUS video I made a few years ago.

I was looking for internships in Denver and found this one church (sorry that I cannot delete the name from the video, just pretend that you do not hear it) that wanted a video application from me. I had like 3 days to do it or something crazy like that. I was very concerned because 1) I have no video equipment or skills and 2) I am not creative. I thought and thought and finally came up with the best idea I could.

So with the help of the awesome video and art production skills of my BFF and the aid of Ruthie on sound this is what we created. I think it is sooooo funny! You should know it is poor quality and had to all be done in one shot because it was made with a digital camera. You also should know I am a horrible actress and I am not good at keeping a straight face. Despite those things I think it turned out quite well, especially for an app for a youth intern. I got the job... and ended up not taking it which is another story.

I hope it makes you laugh or at least smile. And don't worry, it's ok to laugh at me. :)

Dee Out.

Memories...or lack there of

My mom was laying on my bed today reading Donald Miller's latest book that I just got when he came to town. He starts out talking about how little of our lives we remember. I realized how true that is and it made me sad. Most people do not remember many details or events, just the big things. I feel like I remember less than normal even because my memory is not exactly the greatest.

I think it makes me sad not because I don't remember the really important, big events in my life but because I don't remember the small things, the good feelings or the random insightful thoughts. Yes, every once in a while I have an insightful thought but I never write them down so I don't remember. I should right them down.

I wish I remembered how I felt when I sang "I'm just a girl who can't say no" as Ado Annie in Oklahoma in the 4th grade. I wish I remembered how I felt when rode my bike for the first time or first experienced a thunderstorm. I don't remember. I wish I remembered the first time I met my best friends, the smell of Yosemite or my detailed thoughts of my trip to Honduras. I really need to write things down. I did when I was in the airport on my way to DC recently and I was glad. Most of them were not worth sharing (although I did anyways), but I am glad I wrote them down. How else will I remember them.

My mom reading this led us to discussing my first childhood memories. It is hard to distinguish sometimes because I have seen pictures from when I was little and think I have memories or there are things we did many times throughout my life that we did when I was little so it is hard to know.

My mom thinks I only remember the bad things. We decided it was because they were so out of the ordinary that they stick out. One of my first memories is there was a hurricane coming for Houston. We were all prepared with water in the tubs and our trees tied down. My mom, brother and I were sitting on our slanted driveway watching it come in. It was that eerie calm before a big storm. My mom and brother went inside and I am sure they did not actually leave me out there but that was how it felt. I was scared. How in the world can I remember so many details of that and yet I cannot remember anything besides the front of our first house and its drive way.

Mom did not like that as my first memory so she reminded me of all the treasure hunts we had and the goldfish/tea parties we had for all our stuffed animals. We decided the stuffed animal party would be my first memory. Although, now I am thinking it might have been our first cat Chris. She belonged to our neighbor but we fed her so she gave her to us. I remember laying on her on our driveway before she was even ours. I think that will be my first memory. :)

Happy!

Hooray! I found it again! Thank you Aqua Poppy. And thank you brain for remembering the word poppy.

The world is at peace again.

(And now I am trying a new one...)

Sad

Sad day. I accidentally deleted my blog layout. I don't know where to find it again. I really liked it.

Blerg!

Change

About every 6 months I start thinking "man I'm ready for it to cool off," or "I am so ready for warm weather." It never fails. Ask me one season and I will tell you it is my favorite but by the time the next season rolls around I have a new favorite. It is not because I cannot make up my mind but because I love the changing of the seasons. They all have something so wonderful about them that I just cannot choose. I might hurt one of their feelings. ;)

Winter:
Winter means hot tea, house shoes, poofy vests and my Patagonia fleece. Winter means fires in the fireplace, holidays, live Texans games and the exciting possibility of snow. Only during winter does it make sense to watch the movie Elf (I do it other times of the year but it just isn't the same). I love snuggling in the winter!

Go Texans!

Spring:
Spring means new life, budding trees, and my birthday. Spring is when we come out of hibernation from the winter months and being to play outside again. Spring means warm sun on my pasty skin and the chance to wear skirts again. I love laying in the grass in the spring.

B-day, skirt, outside and pasty skin!

Summer:
Summer means shorts, t-shirts and chaco tan lines. Summer means homemade ice cream, bright colors and swimming in the river. Summer makes me feel like a kid and even though I still have responsibilities, everything just seems a little bit more fun and I want to stay up a little bit later. I love baseball games on a warm summer night.

Night baseball game with BFF

Fall:
Fall means seeing my breath in the cold air for the first time in a while, cold air that tastes and feels fresh and clean. Fall means changing leaves (in some places anyways), wearing my boots and fleece vests and carving pumpkins. Only when it starts to cool off do soups taste so yummy. I love camping in the fall.

Beautiful trees in Colorado

Ok, so I could go on and on. I love what each season brings and I don't know that I can choose a favorite. What I really love is the change. I am so thankful for changing seasons. They keep things fresh and new. I think if it was always summer or always spring I would not appreciate summer or spring but because I get renewed every few months I get to fall in love with the quirks of each season all over again.

Fall, I welcome you! You came at the perfect time as always.

Dee In

Ok, I'm back. I know that was not a very long break. I am still kinda bored with blogging but I have my reasons for coming back. Maybe it is because of all the comments my readers have made begging me to return...NOT! No one even seemed to notice so I guess this blog is just for me.

Is there a tool or anything to tell me if anyone is visiting my blog or not? I mean I know that I read a lot of people's blogs but never comment and I guess they don't know that I read. I just like to think my blogs are so profound I leave everyone speechless...or maybe they are too intimidated because I am so cool...or maybe...just kidding. :)

So here are some random things going on in my life:

• Had a wonderful, relaxing, yummy night with my team last night. They are so great. I just love spending time with them.

• Ellen and I are both experimenting with veggie soups (without recipes) this week. We will see how it goes. In the process of sharing what we were thinking we would put in them we discovered the difference in chicken stock and chicken broth. Do you know the difference?

• Summit (Lectureship) is this week at ACU. Have I been to any of it yet? Only the iron pouring on Monday night. That was pretty cool. No, I have been holed up in my room reading and reading and reading. I am going to go hear Donald Miller speak this afternoon. Don't let me down Donald!!!

• I am getting serious about this fund raising business. It is so scary and stressful but also humbling. And I have been encouraged by reading my friend's blogs who are new to the mission field. You should check all of them out on the right side.
  

• It got "cool" yesterday here in Abilene. At least cool for Texas standards and it is super nice. This time of year I miss Colorado the most. I loved the fall there. It was so amazing and beautiful!

• My padres are coming to visit this weekend. Yea!

• The Texans had and AWESOME game on Sunday. So that is what it feels like to have a good team. Every time Schaub stepped back to throw the ball my stomach tightened up because I am so used to seeing him get sacked that it makes me nervous. It feels like how I feel when I see an ice skater make a jump.

• I get to go to my first A&M football game in my life in October and I am super excited. I have wanted to go for a long long time! I am really looking forward to my 2 upcoming weekends in College Station.

• Tomorrow night is Office night. I was really impressed with Community last week. Can they keep up the humor though? I am ready for 30 Rock to come back on. I miss you Lemon!

• I love school and what I am studying is just amazing. I feel so blessed by it all and never want to take it for granted. Having said that, I am ready to be done. Not because I am tired of studying necessarily, but because I am just so tired of sitting. All day I sit and read, sit and write, sit and research, sit and listen. It is exhausting and my body is crying out for activity!
  

• At least one of my fantasy football teams is doing good...
  

Ok, I really should get back to my reading, reading, reading (sitting, sitting, sitting) so I don't feel guilty when I go to Donald Miller. Don't let me down Donald!!! :)

Meh...

I'm bored with blogging. I think I will disappear from here for a while. Don't worry, nothing exciting is happening that you will miss. Seems like all I do is read now. See ya sometime...

Dee Out.

I Heart Kelli

This blog is devoted to my wonderful, amazing, brilliant, beautiful roommate Kelli who is no longer my roommate. She moved out a few weeks ago but she moved away this morning. Sad! I had the most AMAZING time living with her and was blessed so much by her friendship. I could go on and on with sappy stories about her but I wont.

The roommates- what a blessed year

We had a surprise party for her last night and it went better than planned because we actually got to hide and then jump out at her and everything (in 2 waves even). Way to go Shannon! We had a great turnout for a last minute party and it was so fun to hang out one last time with Kelli and friends. We laughed, ate delicious Kaylynn made brownies, and told fun stories.

Hiding in Shannon's kitchen

Joanna being sneaky and calling Kelli to see where she was

Silly guys hiding in the closet

Others hiding in Shannon's room- they were the second wave

Most of the party minus a few

Speaking of telling stories, I think I will share a few of my favorite Kelli stories, most of which have probably been previously blogged about so forgive the repeat.

• Our first night in our new house with just the two of us. Kelli is out. I am roach hunting (aka waiting for Kelli to come home) with toothbrush in mouth when Kelli walked in and saved the night.

• Our second night together, wondering what Alley was curious about under the shelf I pulled back the curtain and out ran a mouse. I jumped on a chair and Kelli fell down and the mouse ran over her!

• Camping, the whole trip. But mainly having the tent blow away with us in it and then cramming everything wet into the car and "sleeping" almost sitting up.

• Going to church with her and meeting so many new wonderful people.

• Walks.

• Watching and quoting 30 Rock with all the roomies.

• Annoying Alley the cat together.

• Making nasty cornbread by mixing up baking soda and baking powder. I still don't understand those names.

Basically I love Kelli and all the time we had together even when she was my RA. I hope and pray that your time in Oxford is amazing and I know it will be. Can't wait to see where we all end up. Meeting in Africa right girls?