Friday, March 21st ... 2008

Ah, the day was a beauty.
Well, a beauty for Salem ... we weren't being deluged in rain, the sun was peeking at us, and I had the opportunity to drive one of the vans in the morning from the rental spot to the gym parking lot.
One of the vans was set up to tow, which was important because the majority of our personal belongings, tools, tents, and kitchen gear was loaded inside a lovely trailer donated for our use by Jerome Prairie Bible Church's Youth Ministry. Sweet!

I had been asked to speak one of the nights around the campfire and had soon come to realize that the very issue I was personally struggling with would be what I would lay bare for my entire team to experience as well.
Between Michael and Marty Trammell I had been taught pretty well in the art of presentation giving and I had no desire to deliver something that wasn't the best I could make it.
So ...
I had the components of E.T.H.I.C.A.L. emailed to me (and an excellent PowerPoint was also sent along ~ yea!). I spent hours researching on the net for supporting info (including lots of quality time at Barna.org) ... I also spent a great deal of time delving even deeper into my most recent experience ... how it impacted my life, how it had been impacting others, and surrounded all that with additional prayer.

I was a bit short in the ink department so I reasoned that this being a college sanctioned event it was cool to use their printers to print off my notes and info I'd amassed.
I emailed myself at the college ... then I forwarded my insurance papers ... and then I waited for two hours and checked to see if there were any "mailer-demon" messages ... not a one ... so for good measure I re-emailed my notes one more time. This took place Thursday night ... Friday morning just before I walked out the door I rechecked my main email and still there were no undeliverable mail notifications (why it never occurred to me to check the account I was sending to still has not ... well ... occurred to me, lol).

So there I am in the computer lab.
We're about ready to leave.
I've hiked down the hill from the gym and have gotten online to print my pages off ... and ... they're not there.
Um ...
The insurance document I forwarded was there ... but those pages were not.
And I realized that at this point it too close to exit time to be able to get home to stick it on a thumb drive (oh, why did I not do that either??) get back to the school and print it off.
Bummer.
But I was determined to make it work ... and as time rolled on it became apparent to me that Father was determined to make me open up and share more about me then I had planned on (or was even comfortable with).

And then we were off, and thus began the trip that would reconnect me with some old friends and bind me with LOTS of new ones.
My van was the smallest one .. there were only eight of us for the trips down and back ... nice and roomy!
Aubrey and Tyler, Caleb, Jon, John, Keith, Andy (in last name alpha order ;*) and I were heading off towards our first overnighter in Corning (and the first of MANY In-N-Out food stops to come!) ...

(continued on tomorrow :*)

Hola!

Well, hello!
I've returned from an absolutely amazing week.
And starting on the 9th I will post a day by day account of my growth and adventures during spring break.

Thank you for your prayer coverage. I'm grateful to my God for y'all.

Families Under Attack in California

Poor Californians are under attack again.
This is a state that needs to be kept in prayer ...
This time the beating is against homeschooling parents and their children ... please click on the title link above for the details.
I am saddened to read that the state of California would even consider hacking up their homeschooling option. As I see it, this equates to discrimination. I would describe this as emotional abuse against the Californian people … it is a blatant act of HATRED against the American Family. This choice is absolutely WRONG and frightening. Please join with me in prayer that this VILE attack is reversed.
Please also check out: PetitionsToday.org and PacificJustice.org

And … PRAY! BLOG!! ACT!!!
Because the sickness that starts in one state can be EASILY spread to the others :-\

Mission Trip!

What a month!

So much has happened ... I've grown spiritually (finally!), my pregnant friend had her baby just one day before my birth-day, and it looks like I get to go to Mexico with my mission's team afterall!!

Que Divertado!! :*)

I've now got about a week to come up with:

$100 for international health insurance in case I hurt myself down yonder;

$35 for my specialty foods (being allergic to lots of normal everyday food);

$56 for test strips;

$26 for a sleeping bag;

$16 for my meds; and

$15 for a pair of (used) work shoes from Value Village ...

Which comes to $258 ... (I started off needing well, well, well over $500)

It will be a blessing to be able to go! If someone can lend me a sleeping bag and I can rummage up a pair of old shoes that aren't more than a couple of dollars I could actually need $39 dollars less.

(so if anyone needs Tupperware ... I'm holding a short -and quick- fundraiser!)

I would appreciate your prayers for this process!!!

spring break Mission Trip 2008

Last year I missed out on joining my college's team on our yearly missions trip to Mexico due to health reasons, but this year I can make it.
The standard cost per person for the ride down/back, food while we're there, space rental of the campsite we stay at, and cost of tools comes to $500 per student.
I, however, am different (but of course, why just stop at food? ;-).
Because I'm diabetic, allergic to gluten, and no longer have the enzymes in me to be able to eat meat I must prepare and bring my own snacks for the trip, my meals seperetely from the rest of the team (about $65) ... yea for the dehydrator I received for Christmas (thanks Mom!).
I need international health insurance for while I'm down there ($83 ... the other students have health insurance already).
Plus special medical supplies I need to purchase before I leave so I can keep my fingers extra clean while I'm there (there's sewage everywhere in and around our work sites so I must take precautions to make sure I don't infect myself as I am constantly poking holes in my fingers to test my blood sugar level ... one year we even worked around raw, exposed bio-hazardous waste).
Fortunatly I already have my passport or that would be another $189 dollars!

I have continued to pray about this and know that as Father God sees fit that the funds for the trip will come in ... after all it is His urging that guided me to go on my first Mexico mission trip with the college six years ago.
I checked with the other students at my church to see who else was raising funds for their mission trips to various places and will be setting up a poster in the back so our church-family will know how they can help us through prayer or even finances.

Especially beneficial has been the push to figure out and test what I can bring with me for sustenance on this 10 day camping/work trip. I'm further along in the pursuit of meals that I can eat since I've begun this planning.
And the blessing of spending time with and planning such an exciting event with other Christian college students has added a very welcome spark back into my life.

So if you have fundraising ideas our team can partake in that will help us meet our financial goals (and bring us closer together) I'd love to hear them!

Having Fun, But Just A Bit Red!

Wow, what a nice ... yet embarrassing ... evening!
Tonight I met up with my friends Tim, Carolyn, and Karla at the monthly Ceilidh (pronounced "Kay-Lee") event that the local SCA hosts for several months each year. Tonight was to be a feasting, White Elephant Gift Exchange (WEGE) party. I learned that they define WEGE much differently then I do!
As I understand it: a WEGE is a "recycled" gift under $5.00. I was extra excited because I was able to locate everything in my own home (which means I spent no money ~ which is great right now because I'm sans a job at the moment). I had the opportunity to come up with three gifts total since two of the people I was going with did not have anything. In the first gift I put together two mixes (fudge brownies and German chocolate cake mixes from a box) with a square aluminum cake pan, the second gift I placed into a large Jones Soda Co. box ... it contained a soda pop holder - the kind that fits in the fridge - and 6 diet soda's (2 were Diet Rite, and the other 4 were Diet Jones Cola ... all with Splenda and no aspartame). The third gift (and one I thought was rather spiffy) was a clean folgers plastic coffee can with a nice Christmas card and a two-sided brochure both with detailed instructions for a 4' x 4' square foot garden plus 10 seed packets all to create a small Salad Garden. I was thrilled ... i thought I had done quite well!
Um .... guess again!
So I was the second to have my name drawn and I went up, found a goldish draw string bag and brought that back to my seat. Inside were four hand cut gold napkins (matching the HAND SEWN bag) and an almost full set of wooden feasting gear! A long plate with two bowls that fit inside and a huge wooden spoon.
A few names later Tim was called and he came back with a leather pouch (which I figure was probably also hand sewn) and two fist fulls of glass beads, home made! Shortly thereafter Carolyn was called and her choice was a very nicely knitted drawstring bag that contained what looked to be at least two yards of gorgeously embroidered ribbon!
The positive note (in my mind) from all this was I had been looking at some of this feasting gear about a month ago and decided that it wasn't something I could afford just now.
The not so positive feeling that came from this is that I felt like a total schmuck!!

Oh, it gets better!
The wonderfully nice couple: Stephanie and Jeff (who had picked the soda pop and cake-mix-in-a-box gifts) were the ones teaching Karla and I to make these incredibly cool metal necklace/bracelets .... which included the sharing of their metal "thread" both copper and gold coated copper wire.

The collage above shows the outfit I wore (good news: I see a waist! less than good news: I REALLY need to get back to practicing how to smile without resulting in a double chin, lol), the pretty gold bag/napkins and feasting gear I received, and a few views of the metal jewelry I've started making.
I need to pick up a 3/8's or 3/4th inch dowel to work on, some gold/copper wire, and a small board so 9 different sized holes could be drilled through it (the metal is pulled through the holes to "finalize" the shape/length of the piece). After I get the wood, I will ask one of the people from church if they could drill the holes for me as I do not have my own drill.

So, I had a wonderfully (embarrassing) night that clearly showed all in attendance just who the Newbies are!
I've been praying that there were no hard feelings from the others!

UHO

Unidentified HOVERING Object


Mom and I noticed a great many lights in the sky tonight hovering white, blinking red and green.
In fact one turned yellowish-ivory. They had what appeared to be specific formation ... and at least two different positions suitable for triangulation.


It's one of those events (for me) where I think: "Is it a bevy of satellites, an invasion, or just our local military men doing their rounds?" I wasn't sure if I should call the non-emergency 911 # to report it or if that would be a waste of their resources because it was a planned air-drill ...


I called my friend Carolyn to see if she could see it too ... she saw some of the stars, but just a little flickering from one and not all. After speaking with her we came to the conclusion that we'd both pray that the proper people would be notified and leave it at that for now.


I'm curious if anyone saw something unique in their night sky tonight around 10pm-ish too?
Doesn't matter where .... just 'what' ...

Here I am! ;*)

It is now officially the day after Thanksgiving 2007, however I haven't gone to bed yet so I say: I say it is STILL Thursday, November 23rd!




What an odd day! Mom and I ate a free lunch at a restaurant north of town that was offering a free meal from 11am - 1pm. They gave everyone who came in any non-alcoholic they asked for and a plate which contained mashed potatoes with yellow gravy, stuffing, carrots/peas, and white + dark meat turkey.
I got carrots/peas, and mashed potatoes but realized they somehow had meat in them (perhaps in the mashed potatoes?) and so I spent my afternoon bonding with the toilet.
For dinner we were going to go to the Olive Garden and pig out on salad :*) ... but they were closed.


As was Dairy Queen, Sushi-Kyo, Applebee's, Rockin' Rogers, Red Robin, Taco Time, and others
we attempted to dine at.
My mom suggested a salad from Safeway's and so we turned in there. It worked, they were open and we caught them just before they were cleaning it up.
I chose a mesculin mix with artichoke hearts, mushrooms, cheese, broccoli plus other salady stuff. We went back out to the car and dinned there because there is an obnoxious fruit fly infestation at home, and because we were going to go to the movies afterwards.


We loved it! We had fun, and kept from freezing.


Sadly, something was in the salad that didn't agree with my body so instead of watching Ratatouille we came home so I could spend some more quality time with the comode.


Nuts, lol.




I am offically a student AND unemployed. I am now signed up for classes for winter term and my 1 year temp contract with my last job ended on Wednesday.


I decided to spend my first free week overhauling my home. The 2nd free week I will be cleaning out my storage units. I will be caught up and not paying almost $500 in storage fees every month. Oh wow has that been difficult!


I have much more to say. I want to list my personal goals for what's left of this year, my achievements and so much more.




Yes, there will be more to come ... soon.

I'm Back! Almost ...

'Hello to everyone! My blog will be completely remodeled and back in action in time for Thanksgiving 2007!! I've missed you all, and thank you greatly for your check-in emails!!! I look forward to 'chewing the fat' with y'all again so VERY SOON! With Blessing, --Cindel b