Favre-tastic

Last night, after the Denver Broncos tied the game against the Green Bay Packers on the last play of regulation, it looked as though momentum was on their side. Then the Packers won the coin flip and got the ball to start overtime. And then on the first play of overtime, this happened.

Game over. The legend lives on.

DRACULA

I finished reading the book Dracula written over 100 years ago by Bram Stoker about a week ago and have been meaning to blog about it ever since I read it. I would say it was one of the best books I've read in a while. My friends Jerusha loves the book and inspired me to read it about a year ago but I never got around to it until now. It was actually a very fast read and I had a hard time putting it down at some points. I would not recommend reading it before bed though. Although I didn't have any nightmares, I had weird Draculaish dreams because of the book. Finally, the story is actually meant to be a Christian allegory and I enjoyed reading it with that in mind. Of course Dracula is supposed to represent the devil but you can read it for yourself and figure out the rest.

I also came across a few websites that might interest you regarding Dracula. Some Dracula fans are really bizarre. Yikes!!

Wikipedia Site

Dracula's Homepage

Dracula's Castle

Browse at your own risk!!!

Q-life Retreat

Erin was inspired by the view of the lake.

The boys invented some kind of weird ping-pong/picnic table game. Scott and Darby made a great team.

Jane, Erin, and Maggie are keeping warm during campfire time. The camp fire wasn't burning yet.

Matt and I spent 24 hours this weekend with about 20 people involved in Quest's small group ministry, Q-life, at East Bay Camp in Bloomington. We had a ton of fun bonding, hanging out, listening to some really good teaching and eating good food.

Matt's brother, Jared, came and taught all three of the sessions. While they all were really good, I was extremely challenged and inspired by his teaching on Ezekiel 34. He shared with us 3 warnings for leaders in community and 3 missions for leaders in community that he got from the passage. The 3 warnings can be gleaned from vs. 1-10 and they are against self-centered leading, ignoring people in the margins, and leaving sheep to wander. The 3 missions are gleaned from vs. 11-16 and they are the missions of rescuing/inviting, providing pasture and a place conducive to growth, and restoration. Now, I hope that I can start applying some of these principles in my own life and ministry.

P.S. Check out the link to our webshots page if you want to see more pictures from the retreat.

Bravo Delivers Again!

I'm sitting at school right now posting this blog entry. I should be working on grading or catching up with stuff because I was sick for the last 2 days, but instead I decided to post about Project Runway.

The first day I was sick I spent the day on the couch or in the bathroom and could barely move. But, the second day I was able to move around and watch TV so I actually watched the Project Runway marathon on Bravo TV for 11 hours straight. Check out the Wikipedia website for more info. In case you are interested, the new season premieres on Nov. 14th at 10/9 Central.

3 Things I learned while I was sick...
1. Matt is really good at taking care of me.

2. Substitute teachers do not do a good job at teaching math.

3. Burlington Coat Factory offers better deals than department stores. That is according to their commercials.

The Cure For My Ignorance

Here is how a normal conversation goes when my car-ignorant self takes the Kia Sephia in to get some work done:

Mechanic: "Yeah, so it looks like your X part will need to be replaced. We can take care of that."
Me: "Wow, that's bad. I was hoping it wouldn't be the X part." (Even though I don't know what an X does or why it's important.)
Mechanic: "So that will cost $Z."
Me: "Hmmm...well, this could have significant consequences, so let's go ahead and do it." (Even though I don't know what the consequences are).
Mechanic: "OK, great. I think you're making a really smart decision. Real good decision."
Me: "Thanks." (The momentary pride I have about my good decision is overshadowed by the revelation that my decision was not based on any concrete information.)

Now usually I will take time to look on the internet to compare prices for parts to make sure I'm not being overcharged. But in all reality, I am an idiot when it comes to cars. I can recognize the names of the parts of a car, but I'm not sure I could point them out nor tell you exactly what those parts do.

Thankfully, people write books to help people like me. The book, "Auto Repair for Dummies", was recommended by a close confidant and I am going to use it to educate myself in the way of the automobile.

My Collection of Busts

When Matt mentioned our G.W. bust in his last post it inspired me to start posting about my bust collection. Bust: a sculptured, painted, drawn, or engraved representation of the upper part of the human figure, esp. a portrait sculpture showing only the head and shoulders of the subject.

My piano teacher used to give composer busts to me as a prize if I played well for about 6 months in a row (she was pretty strict). But, after getting my drivers license I realized that I could go to The Music Shoppe and buy my own busts. So, much to my mom's chagrin, I started buying busts whenever I got a chance. I think the fact I displayed them proudly on the piano in our living room was a little tacky for her. About a year ago I moved the busts from my parents' house to my place and they have been enjoying life in Champaign a great deal. I thought this blog would be a great place to document what all 14 (15 if you count G.W. seen below) have been up to in Champaign. So, I will start with G.W. and continue from there...

Bust #1: George Washington
Birthday: February 22, 1732
Most Known For: 1st President of the U.S.A.
Favorite Activity: Greeting people who come to visit us
Fun Fact: Five states were added to the Union during Washington's presidency - North Carolina (1789), Rhode Island (1790), Vermont (1791), Kentucky (1792), and Tennesee (1796).

My New Job

So I'm a month and a half into my new job and I wanted to let you all know how it's going...

First of all, I'm thankful to God that I am employed and I'm excited to continue my lifelong pursuit of being a nerd for the glory of God.

Secondly, there are certain "perks" that come with this new job that I'm slowly acclimating to....

• Free vending machines -- including soda, snacks, candy, even cereal
• 24" widescreen monitors
  
• Free fruit on Tuesdays
• Free Fantasy Football stat tracker
• Linux desktop machine + Mac/Windows laptop (that's two computers for one person!)
  
• Free beer on Friday afternoons

That last perk is not a typo. On Friday afternoons, beer and food gets wheeled into our office. Our motto: eat, drink, and be nerdy!

Side story: This morning, the FedEx guy came to our house to drop off a package. Upon seeing the George Washington bust on our front porch (which we proudly display), the FedEx guy proclaimed his adoration for our nation's first president (he's currently reading 1776). The bust of George Washington will remain on the porch of my home forever. I hope Anne doesn't mind.

I love America.

you don't want me as your fan...

So here is the thing...I'm convinced that whoever I am pulling for in any competition will not win. I started thinking about my recent disappointments and I already have a list for just the past month.
1. I watched reruns of America's Next Top Model for several hours straight, only to see the girl I was rooting for get beat out in the last episode.
2. On Top Chef the 2 of 3 I would have been happy to see win, lost.
3. Being the great wife that I am, I supported my husband (contrary to the way I was raised) and wanted the Milwaukee Brewers to win the Division League Baseball Team title (or whatever its called, I just made that up) to get to go to the playoffs, and they didn't get that.

I don't think anyone or team that I want to win it all ever will. But that got me thinking, what are some championships that I was able to celebrate in...and here the 2 of them are.
1. 2000: Freddie Prinze Jr. and Rachael Leigh Cook received the Blimp Award for Favorite Movie Couple in She's All That (Kid's Choice Awards USA).
2. Timpone's Restaurant in Urbana, IL was named one of the 10 best restaurants in town. I love eating there!

I don't know if you want me as your fan!

Top Chef

Well after and invigorating season of cooking, sweating, and working hard to create wonderful dishes, the competitors on Top Chef will conclude their competition this evening at 10/9 Central on Bravo TV (Channel 35 for Urbana Insight Communications customers). The countdown is on and I can't wait to see who wins. Check out the Top Chef website for more information. If for some unforeseen reason you have not been keeping up with this show, you can pretty much catch the whole season on Bravo TV within the next week. They tend to replay a lot of shows! It really is a good show (Matt even kind of likes it)! Bon Appetit!