Return bliss and upset-ness

So, a few days ago I broke my earbud headphones that I have had for a number of years. They were starting to go bad. It was weird because the buds were starting to make some electicity sounds in the speakers and were some-what shocking me. It was a very light shocking that I could barely tell it was going on, but lo and behold, ear shocking. Weird, right?

Anyway, I did some research and found that the place to buy theses over-the-ear earbuds was via Amazon (because I still had prime membership- free 2day shipping and 3.99 overnight- and also because Amazon has Amazin prices and selection.) So, I buy the new Seinheiser (which is an excellent brand) earbuds and I get them yesterday (friday). I try them out to be very dissappointed- my weird ears would not allow the bud to go in my ears- the buds were just too big. Now, I have had problems with earbuds before. That is why I don't use regular earbuds- I use the over-the-ear ones because they help them stay in my weird ears that don't hold the regular buds. I don't even try to use the corny/hip Apple buds because they pop out after 10 seconds- thats not even moving anyplace.
So, sufficed to say, I was sad these new buds I paid lots of money for (in the view of the cheapskate that I am).
Now, to the second part of the upset-ness that I titled about. A few months ago, I bought a photo from Walmart.com and I enlarged this photo to a nice big print. I take a look at this print that I bought at walmart photo online and find that it is pixelated- distortion everywhere. I was upset by this. Usually when you are trying to enlarge a photo, the photo site will tell you that it will look bad at that size. Walmart did not. So, when they sent off an email asking me to rate how I felt about my purchase. I was honest, I was not happy. I did not expect anyone to read it or just to shrug it off- its not their problem anyway, right? Well, I just got an email from the walmart.com online shopping saying they were sad to see I was not happy with my order and gave me a $10 gift-e-card. It was pretty sweet. (being months ago, I had to think back to remember what they heck I bought, the remembered.) anyway.
So, the way these two connect as a story is because I used my $10 for a $10 pair of new earbuds and this time I purchased the same type of earbuds that I had before- because I know that they will actually fit.

Long story, long... right? sorry 'bout that, but I had to write about it because it worked out well. Also, I want to Commend AMAZON for making returns to easy. I went online to my account, did a few steps and printed out a return UPS slip to apply to the box and in about 5-10 minutes it is ready to be dropped off at a UPS location (for free)

Hardest Job to be Prego

So, I went to the dentist yesterday and was very impressed. My Dental assistant was preggers and still working. Now, many ladies work through their pregnancy to save up money and to take the extra time off after the baby rather than before, but to be a dental assistant, working around people and having to be so close to them, I could tell yesterday that it was certainly an art. She had to lean in physically uncomfortable ways to protect her baby and such. She was 6 months pregnant and still working as hard as ever. Needless to say, I was very impressed. (and she did well with my teeth too- except they didn't hurt while she was working on them, but then were sore afterwards the rest of the night and even today a bit too)

But, think about it- it would be a tough job to do being pregnant. If a pregnant woman works in an office, or a school or wherever, she can sit down and take breaks easily and not have to be in as close quarters as a dentist. Major props to her.

Also, very unrelated,  Google Voice has the Port-ability now so you can use your old number that everyone knows and still have google voice features. Also, MacWold (expo/event) starts in two days and it really makes me wanna go down to San Francisco to see it. That would be cool.

You Decide '11

Now that both of the teams that I wanted to win their games today in the playoffs won, there is a challenging question.... Who should I pick to side with for the superbowl?

This is a tough one because I like both teams. The Steelers are a great team and they are doing so well, but I als really like the Packers. I am just so excited that both teams won their respective playoff games today. But the conundrum still remains. I am a fan of Rothlisburger, just because of his name- its fun to say and it barely fits on his jersey, but I really have to side with Rodgers in QB status.
I also really enjoy siding with the underdog, or the team that has never been to the Superbowl before (except for last year. I have NEVER, ever been a fan of the Saints. WHO DAT? REALLY?)
Anyway, that is why I come to you, my faithful 2 or 3 readers of my blog. I want you to fill out a "Who should I side with poll" from Survey Monkey. You can choose to vote as you like. You can put in who you are siding with, or the opposite, whatever you feel. And, also, just to be totally honest here, I might side with the poll, or I might side against the poll, but it will be interesting to see if I get any poll votes at all.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

PS- I also will be putting this on my FB status, so feel free to go there as well, and since you read all the way through the blog posting, I am giving you the choice to cast your vote twice (if you are a FB friend that is)

The Land Between and the excitement and devastation it contains.

This weekend I had the pleasure of attending the GIA Summit. Now, this sounds very fancy and you may be wondering what GIA stands for. Well, I'll tell ya. It stands for Grace in Action. This catchy phrase is the mantra of my church- New Hope. It is the embodiment of Christ in our community. It is putting Actions behind our faith. It is caring for the community and the world. This GIA Summit was designed as a ThankYou/Leadership Training for those New Hopers of whom are involved in the various ministries. There were leaders from Children's Ministry/Awana, and Youth Ministry- MS and HS and HUB if you count it, Women's Ministry, Worship Ministry, Missions, Tech- pretty much anything and everything.
It was a great time. There were about 160 attenders. The format of the weekend was Friday night (about 5:30-9) and this morning (Saturday) from 8-noon. We were provided with a wonderful catered dinner, Breakfast and lots of good snacks in-between. The majority of the teaching time was via video from famous Pastor/Writer/Speakers such as Bill Hybels, Andy Stanley, Jim Collins, and Jeff Manion.
I was challenged by these speakers. To be totally honest, there were some I prefered over others, but I was able to glean something from all of em.

I was very blessed to be asked to be a part of this Summit. I would have to say my favorite speaker was Jeff. He did an amazing job of summing up where I am at right now- the Land between. He spoke of the isreallites and their land between and how we can be at that same Land between ourselves when we feel that we should be in one place but feel stuck in another. Graduating from college and finding no job has left me in a Land Between.

He speaks of the Land Between having fertile ground for:

Complaining,

Emotional Melt-downs

God's Provision

God's Discipline

and Transformational Growth.

WOW, some of those scare me, but others are quite comforting. The Land between is a great place for God to grow a person and that is what I am looking for- growth to become a full, well-rounded individual. Sure, it can be scary to be in this Land Between- not knowing what will happen in the future and now knowing where things might come from, but it is also an exciting place if we choose to think of it that way.
I was so moved by Pastor Jeff's Land Between discussion, I knew that was a book I was going to get. I actually got three of em. I plan on Reading the Land Between after I am finished with Why We're Not Emergent, by two guys who should be.

Also, to go along with this idea of the Land Between, I have decided that my devotions right now need to be in Exodus.

May we grow in our relationship with God, whether we are in the Land Between or in a steady part of our lives.

 May we thrive in any and all circumstances.

I had a dream...

Last night/this morning I had a dream. This dream was not a dream that

"black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
(But it would be appropriate since it is Rev. MD Martin Luther King JR day.)

This dream happened when I was half-awake and half-asleep. This dream was about me driving to Portland in an old beat up 1968 Ford pickup (which BTW is going to happen) and then for some reason I have $5000. in form of a check in my pocket. I got to a US Bank (my current bank provider) and wanted to cash the check in its entirety. Don't ask me why I had $5000 in a check, because that is not true. And don't ask me why I wanted to cash it all and not put it in my account, because that wouldn't be true either.
Anyway, so there I was waiting for my $5000 check to be cashed and there were all these people around me. They gave me a box with the money in it and I checked it to make sure all $5000 was there. Then, I had to wait to talk with someone so I was just standing/sitting there with a box full of cash and all these people around me that were looking like they wanted to take my money. The teller helping me was even more nervous about me having the money than I was. When I was about to give my signature, he stopped me to show me there was this old lady that had a pendent that was going to use it to copy my signature and then every 2 minutes I would check to make sure my box of money was still there.


I don't know for certain, but it kinda sounds like I have been watching too much Psych. This is a show where two (Un)Psychic detectives notice things around them and solve crimes by dastardly people who think of devious ways of cheating (like using a pendent to copy a signature).

Do you believe in love at first sight?.....

or should I walk by again? Im sure you have heard this pickup line as well as knew it was coming from my title of the post. Granted, I kinda like cheesy pickup lines, even if I don't use pickup lines. They just make me laugh. Its pretty much like a good cheesy joke.

But, is there true love at first sight? Now, before I dive into this posting, I have to give a disclaimer. I am a hopeless romantic. I love all those chick flicks where they guy stands out in the rain for the girl, or holds a boombox out in front of her 2 story window with a cheesy haircut. Or perhaps he just makes a fool of himself for his girl because he knows that making a fool of himself isn't as important to him as his lady friend. I am a hopeless romantic, and I fear I always will be.

That being said, I feel that a love that last for a lifetime- true love (to blauaath) is not found in an instant even before speaking to someone. Sure, there is definitely ATTRACTION at first sight. But can you really love, really love someone just by SEEING THEM? I think not. If you think sight is true love, you are very superficial and it most likely won't last long because you will fall in love "at first sight" again and then it all goes down the dumps!

I feel the real love, the love that we all want to feel, the love that makes us do stupid stuff, the love that makes our heart stop, the love that makes us feel alive, the love that is patient and kind, the love that is forever, that love takes time. It is not just a casual sight of someone, but instead is getting to know someone over a matter of time. Getting to know the REAL person, not just the person that they act like to impress you. You may be thinking, if it takes so long and you have to get past the person they act like to impress, how will you know? Well, I am no expert on this by any means, but after observing true love in some relationships around me, I feel that it does take time. Spending time with someone, and apart from them. (by apart, I don't mean, dating and breaking up and then dating again- I mean not being consumed by the other person- when in a relationship take some time for yourself, by yourself or with other friends. I just mean not spending every waking minute with the person.) Going through stressful and hard times with them. Being willing to forgive and forget, being willing to give in and also being willing to stand up at times too. Compromise is a large part of this type of relationship. As they always say, pick your battles.

That's enough about giving love/relationship advice from someone of whom is single.

Resolved

I have a very bad track record of New Years Resolutions. Have you been there too? Say, "This year, I'm going to... or I won't...!!!!" Well, it does happen. I am sure that many resolutions from New Years often start out with a BANG, and then end in a whimper.
As much trouble as I have had sticking with my goals, whether it be a physical, spiritual, mental, or just general goals, you might think that I would just give up on resolutions (like a friend of mine did as mentioned on FB this morning). But I say, even if they are not accomplished, goals are always a good thing, as long as they are attainable. I took some time this morning as I was thinking about the past year, and planned out some goals to make my 2011 (twenty-eleven, not two thousand eleven- Im still on that Kick- I don't know why so many are saying two thousand- its just time consuming) a banner year.

Not to mention all of my goals (I kinda like to use the word "Goals" rather than "resolutions"), because some are personal that I would like to keep that way, but some are as follows:

*Spend time with God 5X a week
*Memorize one verse a week
*Finish my Masters degree
*Limit my television watching
*Walk my dog at least 5x a week
*Get a Full-time Permanent Job ( I bet no one could have guessed that one)
*and misc. others as well.

I broke mine down into four Categories- Spiritual, Physical, Mental, and General Goals.

I would encourage anyone on the fence about setting goals for the new year, to just sit down a do it, even if it is just one.  To quote an over-quoted quote:

"You miss 100% of the Shots you don't take!" - Wayne Gretzky

So, get those pens out and dream big about what changes can be done.