Nicole's Salmagundi

A Tour of The Crayon Box

2011-07-06T23:57:00.013-04:00

I've decided to come shake the cobwebs off the good old Salmagundi. I'm not sure how many more uses it will have but for the moment a blog seems to be much handier than email.

About a month ago Courto and I moved to the Old Northside with two other girlie whos and some of you have not seen pictures of our new abode yet. This is a problem, because it really is a lovely place. We have affectionately dubbed it The Crayon Box for reasons you will soon discover on our little tour.

Home Sweet Home

A view from our side of the duplex

Our back porch

Our lovely front porch

A view from the porch of our corner, we like to keep track of what is going on in the neighborhood.

We spend a lot of time relaxing out here

Entryway

The parlor

If you stop by in the afternoon, we could share a spot of tea in here.

Our little purposeless nook, except perhaps for tying your shoes.

The dining room

This handy pull out door separates the dining and living rooms.

The living room

Our little butler pantry which we discovered serves as a nice buffet line.

The kitchen, the door goes out to the back porch.

The stairs to get to the basement are hiding in the back right corner of the kitchen. I neglected to take pictures this time around.

This view of the main floor from the parlor is what inspired the name of our abode - The Crayon Box - it's got all your basic colors, in variations.

Going up to the second floor from the dining room.

Courto's room

Her new desk from Grandma & Grandpa

And her spanking new Amish bedroom furniture

The slave stairs come up to the second floor from the kitchen.

Second floor hallway, linen closet on the left, slave stairs right after that and then Courto & Brianne's bathroom.

Second floor hallway, stairs going up to third floor.

My little reading nook, free of my room's wonderful distractions. The door goes over to the other side of the duplex.

Danielle and I's bathroom

Although this bathroom is smaller than the other, I like it much better because of features like this brick wall.

The door to the left of my chair goes into an attic storage room.

My bedroom

There is still a bit more unpacking to do and more pictures to hang but we are pretty well settled in and thoroughly enjoying our downtown accommodations!

"Cheese, Gromit!!"

2011-01-31T21:03:00.008-05:00

Last week I had a little Wallace & Gromit party. And guess what? I actually took a few pictures with people in them! I thought you all would appreciate that. But first, a picture of the appropriately decorated "chalkboard" is necessary to set the scene:

And a close up of the food is also quite important.

Whenever you watch Wallace & Gromit it is absolutely essential to eat crackers and cheese and sip some good English tea. Grandma, do you recognize your milk glass? They worked perfectly for my little party! Thanks for passing them along.

Getting a candid snap - Danielle and Lauralee - friends from Redeemer and good old Courto.

And a lovely posed photo. I think Danielle M. was too busy thinking heavenly thoughts about her English tea to look at the camera.

Round Two for Epiphany

2011-01-06T23:26:00.004-05:00

Some of you may remember that last year I made a personal discovery of a long standing holiday - the Feast of the Epiphany. Well guess what? Another year has passed and today we were bequeathed yet another Feast of the Epiphany! Last year, due to the shortness between discovery and holiday, my celebration was very small. I was determined to have a grand celebration this year but I had a bit of an epiphany today: I am a big procrastinator! Well... this really wasn't much of an epiphany but my procrastination did most certainly affect my preparedness. However, I am making progress toward my grand Epiphany celebration! For starters: This year I had four guests, an Epiphany greeting and a properly made King's cake.

Still Estivating... Check Back In 2011

2010-12-22T20:47:00.003-05:00

In June this blog unknowingly began its estivation in cyberspace junkyard and it missed the fact that its estivation had expired when autumn set in on September 22 and then doubly expired yesterday on the first of winter.

I'm now trying to summon it back home but it may take a few days, maybe a week or two. I should probably just wait for the new year to start to make sure it's really sick of its extended stay in the cyberspace junkyard.

Just thought I'd let whoever is still out there know I'm trying.

Happy National Doughnut Day!

2010-06-04T15:36:00.006-04:00

While at the dentist this morning I was browsing through the newspaper and discovered that today is National Doughnut Day which means... you can pay a visit to Krispie Kreme and get a free doughnut. Dunkin Donuts is also giving out free donuts however you have to by a beverage to get it. And who knows what local bakeries are doing it too!

Portfolio Has Sapped Me Of All Motivation!

2010-04-21T15:34:00.005-04:00

That's my excuse at least! I'm trying to work on school but I have really been lacking motivation this week! And just a few minutes ago I found an entirely new way to waste time while trying to write a paper. (That's right - I'm writing a paper - one of 2 or 3 of my entire graphic design education!) Anyway, here's the new distraction I discovered: The Puppy Shuffle!

Journey Behind The Journey

2010-04-17T18:02:00.019-04:00

Friday April 16th, 2010 was a big day for me. It was the culmination of 100+ hours (possibly 200+) and a bunch of dollars that were used to produce one little book with a big purpose. The book is my portfolio, the purpose is to attain a job in graphic design! I shouldn't say all those hours and dollars were only put toward one little book. Along with my portfolio, I produced a resume, business card, envelope, leave behind and website. Here's a little sampling of the work I did:

Portfolio Cover

Leave Behind Cover

Business Card - Front Side

Although everything you see looks fairly simplistic, it was anything but that! I started working on all these things a couple of months ago but the majority of the work was done in the last couple of weeks - mostly the last week. On Monday the 5th, I was feeling pretty overwhelmed and not very hopeful that I would be able to get done what was needed.

Things began to change dramatically after Grandma prayed for me and encouraged me to stop, pray and then get a fresh start on my day. All of my work did not magically disappear nor were solutions to my projects instantly popping into my brain and getting translated onto my computer. What changed at that time was my attitude. I was no longer overcome with worry about finishing my work and instead was able to think optimistically about it.

In this past week I've been averaging about 4 hours of sleep a night and about 15 hours of school work a day. I got pretty tired and a little cranky at times but for the most part I was energized, alert, able to focus on one thing at time and have a positive attitude.

On Thursday afternoon I was feeling pretty exhausted and starting to wonder if I would get everything done. While I had hoped to have my portfolio printed and assembled by the last weekend, it didn't happen until Thursday afternoon. Of course, mistakes immediately popped off of the printed page. However, cost and time prevented me from making corrections and reprinting. I have never created a book before and that was my next task. Things eventually got wrapped up around 11:00pm. I wasn't overly excited about my portfolio, business cards and resume but consoled myself with the realization that worse things can happen than my work not looking as good as I'd like, my website not being up and running when I'd like and my portfolio presentation not going as well as I'd hope for.

I managed to get about 6 hours of sleep on Thursday night, woke up to a breakfast made by Courtney on Friday morning and arrived at school in plenty of time. I had everything I needed but was a little disappointed with it. Nonetheless, when the presentations began at 9:00, I was able to talk fairly confidently about my work. I wasn't nervous or tired as I had expected and despite the mistakes I saw in my work, I think it was received pretty well by the reviewers.

I know there were many people praying for me during this process because I most certainly noticed! If you were one of those people, thank you so very much for taking the time to do so!

It was so nice to be able to relax after the presentation was done! Mom and I got to go out for supper at a new (for us) restaurant - The Bosphorus Cafe, enjoy coffee at Calvin Fletcher Coffee Co. and watch Alex & Emma. Overall, it was a fantastic day!

Cream Cooled By Means Of Ice... With Sesame Seeds!

2010-03-29T23:07:00.005-04:00

Today I was reading Linda's Refrigerator (I discovered this blog a couple days ago - it is a dream come true!) Anyway... through this blog, I learned about sesame seed ice cream today! It is served at Ichiban on the northeast side of Indianapolis (and all kinds of other places).

After learning about this curious flavor, I was of course itching to go to Ichiban to try it out. But then I came across this recipe for black sesame seed ice cream and am now just anxious to make it myself!

Swagbucks is just so nice.

2010-03-29T22:57:00.003-04:00

Sometimes I when I really want some swagbucks but don't really need to search for anything, I start asking the swagbucks search engine questions. Like tonight I just asked if they wanted to give me any more swagbucks. And lo and behold, they did (even when I mispelled their name)! Such a deal!

Haven't You Always Wanted To Be A Swaggernaut?

2010-03-21T14:12:00.014-04:00

I spent my spring break in the good old Michiana region. Instead of frying myself on some beach in warm, sunny Florida I decided to go hang out in an office. But not just any office... the iMedia department of Life Action Ministries! Not only did I get to hang out with some great people, I also learned some valuable information that has given me a whole new reason to get addicted to surfing the web! I discovered that while I surf the web to find out all kinds of interesting little tidbits and essential information, I can earn prizes! By simply entering a question, a word or even just a letter I can type my way to electronics, stickers, gift cards and so much more! I hope you all are just dying to know how you can do this too because I am just dying to pass this information along to you!

Here is how you join the excitement - become a member of SWAGBUCKS! But... you should do so by responding to my email message. If you did not receive an email from me, let me know and I'll send you one (I can only send 10 email invites at a time).

Let me give you a brief explanation of how Swagbucks works and why you should be jumping up and down with anticipation to join!

This is what the swagbucks home page looks like:

It's a search engine and so much more! When you join, you will be given 30 swagbucks (sbs). You can earn more sbs by searching, finding codes and putting it into "Gimme," shopping on-line (2 sbs for every $1 spent), playing on-line games, testing products, filling out on-line surveys, asking questions, twittering, inviting friends (when you refer a friend, you receive sbs whenever they do), and who knows how many other ways!

To give you an idea of how much sbs are worth, a $10 Barnes & Noble gift card is 1,250 sbs (this is what I am working toward right now). I'll warn you that swagbucks can be kind of addicting because once you see this image below you will want to see it again and again! (You win sbs randomly when you search, not every time.) And you get to be famous for about a minute every time you win sbs! If you look close enough, you can see my image right below the purple "Shop & Earn" bar.

Are you dying to join yet? If not you should probably call me and I will talk you into it. If you are ready - great! You should do it! And if you want to be really nice, you can do it by joining through the email that I sent! Happy Swaggernauting!

Happy First Day of Spring!

2010-03-20T19:21:00.011-04:00

To celebrate the first day of spring, I balanced an egg during the vernal equinox which conveniently occurred at 1:32pm. (Last year it was 7:44am and in 2008 it was 1:48am). Vernal means "of or pertaining to spring" and equinox means "equal night."

While this whole egg balancing thing may be nothing new to some people, I just recently learned about it (or maybe I just started caring about it). According to Chinese legend, you can balance a raw egg on its end as a result some special gravitational pull that occurs during the equinox when the sun passes over the equator. Now, there are some skeptics out there and here's a little blurp from Urban Legends on About.com:

If you look at it skeptically, however, you have to wonder about the fact that there's an another equinox every year on the first day of autumn — how come there's no talk of balancing eggs in September? Secondly, while it's true that on both equinoxes the earth's axis is perpendicular to the sun so day and night are of equal length, there's no scientific reason to suppose that such an alignment exercises a perceptible gravitational effect on solid objects here on earth. Thirdly, if the equinox can cause this curious anomaly, why doesn't it cause others? Why don't we see people running around standing broomsticks, pencils, lollipops, and foot-long hot dogs on end? Food for thought.

With a few grains of salt

I'm not saying it can't be done — standing raw eggs on end, I mean — it certainly can, but the trick takes patience, eggs of just the right shape, a pinch of salt if all else fails, and — and this is the biggest "secret" of all, mind you — it works equally well no matter what day of the year you attempt it.

But I would just like you all to know that around 1:20 I was just messing around with the egg, getting my props ready and although I was not trying too hard, the egg did not want to balance itself. But then... at 1:32, I pretty much threw the egg up and it landed perfectly balanced on its buttush! Amazing, huh? Mom got one to balance also but when Courto came home around 4:30 she had no such luck. So perhaps there is something special about the gravitational pull at that minute that the sun passes over the equator...

Please excuse the horrendous type issues.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

2010-03-17T22:08:00.004-04:00

In honor of St. Patrick's Day I decided to make some green peanut butter cookies. Not sure why they had to be peanut butter but Nealy had the thought to make green cookies today too and she also envisioned making peanut butter cookies. Crazy, huh? They don't look terribly green in my picture so you'll just have to use your imagination a bit!

I also painted my nails green and am listening to some Irish tunes as I eat some green ice cream!

Living In Phantasmagorical Days

2010-03-10T23:11:00.003-05:00

I'm quite a fan of dictionary.com's word of the day for March 10, 2010:

PHANTASMAGORIA.

My School Hiatus

2010-03-10T20:15:00.013-05:00

Last Friday afternoon I headed out to begin my little spring break adventure in Michiana. As I drove north on U.S. 31, I pulled over to take a picture of this roadside restaurant signage. Not so sure if I'd like to stop and eat there...

I arrived at the Life Action Camp shortly after 5:00 attend a retreat that Carrie was speaking at. I ended up being able to stay in the new cottage with Carrie, Katie and Joy. The next day we had some delightful snacks during our session. These veggie fry/chips express pleasant time we had at the retreat.

As soon as the retreat was done on Saturday, we flew into wedding mode planning/shopping. While at Office Max I ran across these amazing erasable pens and highlighters. They do a top-notch job.

Carrie has a Bible study on Monday night and invited me to come along. We had a bit of time to kill before the study started so Joy and I ran to McDonald's and got a Shamrock shake!

On Tuesday I got to go to one of my favorite places in Niles, MI - The Paris Soda Shop! Joy, Maggie and Gideon joined me and we had a splendid lunch!

I got a chocolate phosphate and a rueben sandwich. (Popcorn is a free precursor to all meals.)

Carrie and I did the very exciting task of grocery shopping on Tuesday night. I don't think I've ever had a hen and I've never noticed how cute they are - they're like little individual turkeys. I can't wait to make one sometime soon!

Today I managed to complete one of the fastest and most successful parallel parking attempts in my entire driving career. Parallel parking is a very intimidating activity and I've tried to avoid it ever since I started driving. But in the last couple of months I have been entering situations where this is a required skill. I've noticed Niles has rather long parking spaces and their Main St. isn't too busy. So I thought I'd give my parallel parking skills a bit of practice. I was so proud of my speed and accuracy! You would appreciate it a lot more if you got to experience it with me, especially since my picture makes it look like there was no car behind me. But trust me - there is!

The reason I parallel parked was to visit a little book store in Niles. It of course had some nice things since it is filled with books! I almost purchased the book below because I like the illustrations... and I like pancakes!

Wishing You A Non-cornball Day!

2010-03-05T10:21:00.007-05:00

One of the things I love about graphic design is that I get to research. And when research happens, wonderful tidbits are learned! Like today, I am doing some research on the classic game of jacks (I'm working on a packaging design) and I came across these words: platitudinous and cornball. Please try not to have a cornball day by saying platitudinous words. I recommend paying a visit to dictionary.com just to listen to the pronunciation of platitudinous.

My post was looking a little bland so I decided to put a picture on here for you all. When I typed in "platitudinous" and looked at images, Obama's face appeared. Perhaps he says too many platitudinous things.

Elephantine Self Control

2010-02-19T17:51:00.011-05:00

The last couple of days I have visited many of my favorite shops - multiple thrift stores and two antique malls. I am on a mission to find a little suitcase for my graphic design portfolio. And of course thrift stores and antique malls are a great place to go for this item. It's been a wonderful yet painful time visiting these superb shops. I have had to exercise some major self-control in a couple of ways. 1) Not allowing myself to get caught up looking at the entire store - focusing on the luggage section and baskets/knickknacks (which fortunately lets me cover a decent amount of ground) 2) Not buying all the exceptional items that catch my eye as I scope the space for suitcases. Displayed are some of the temptations I've come across. And mind you, these are only a few of the tantalizing items I came across. Just for a scintilla of clarification -the navy and red bag is a shoe carrier and the chair is a swivel chair that is quite comfy! The last picture is a bike basket that would probably be perfect for my J.C. Higgins cruiser.

A Bit Of Apple-Pie Ordering For My Room

2010-02-10T17:06:00.021-05:00

I like having a clean room but somehow it always becomes a bit of a pigsty. And whenever I clean it I always have hope that I will change my ways and keep my room in an orderly fashion. I don't know if my room will ever remain clean for longer than two weeks but since I just finished cleaning it I am going to continue in my hope that this cleaning will motivate me to keep it clean for months to come! But for now at least I will enjoy my freshly decluttered, vacuumed and dusted room!

Amazingness!

2010-02-03T23:03:00.004-05:00

I'm doing some research for a school project right now and I ran across this image. Apparently a professional card stacker (didn't even know there was such a thing) created an entire hotel out of plastic key cards. I didn't read much more but if you all would like to educate yourselves on toilets made out of plastic cards, you can visit this site.

Okay, I just went back and read the rest of the article and I am ready to go to New York! But for now... back to school.

A Little Art For Your Day

2010-01-23T22:46:00.004-05:00

Every day I have a different piece of artwork shown on my Google home page. This little wall of glass jars with the butchered tree limb inside was for today. I thought it was rather nice!

Just A Bit Of Research

2010-01-19T21:02:00.003-05:00

I'm doing a little research on logos tonight and I came across a little quote about research from this book called Design Matters: Logos. I thought it was kind of clever. But I'll let you read it for yourself so you can make your own opinion.

"Once upon a pancake, people insisted the world was flat. Then someone did a little research. With just a whip of curiosity and a dab of exploration, the world swelled into a rotund, complicated, souffle of possibilities. Research, it seems, literally made the world go round."

Yummy In My Tummy

2010-01-13T15:53:00.003-05:00

I am in my third year of BSF but today I joined my sixth group! Nealy has joined me for the second semester of John at Post Road Christian Church on the east side of Indy. The picture above is of Yummy's Grill which is right by the church. It's a pretty sweet looking place... sorry you can't really see that, this was all I could manage to get before the light turned green. I'm thinking we're going to have to try this place out sometime after class!

Sporting My New Gear

2010-01-13T15:38:00.003-05:00

Last week we got a nice dumping of snow and I got to wear my sweet new boots while shoveling. They kept my feet nice, dry and toasty the whole time! I happened to have my new matching fleece on too. After Nealy and I finished shoveling the driveway I drug Courto into the cold to have a little photo shoot in honor of Sonya. Thanks Matt and Sonya for my new boots!

Happy Feast Of The Epiphany!

2010-01-06T19:16:00.008-05:00

How many of you knew that today, January 6th was the Feast of the Epiphany?? I feel sorry to say that I am in my 23rd year of life and am just now learning of this holiday. I am in debt to my new 2010 planner that I purchased a couple days ago. I was having quite a frustrating time finding a planner that I liked until I remembered that I had a gift card for Barnes & Noble and thought that I just might find something there. I was thoroughly excited to find a nice selection of planners all at 50% off! As I was admiring my planner that evening I saw that today was the Feast of the Epiphany. I wondered how I have never even heard of this holiday and what it could be about. Nealy and I decided maybe you just have a big gathering and share epiphanies! This sounded pretty interesting to me, especially if we got to eat some good food to help stimulate the epiphanies. However, I didn't have too much faith in my speculations so I decided to do some research on this holiday.

And here's what I've discovered:

The Feast of the Epiphany is a celebration of God's revelation of Himself to mankind through the Person of Jesus Christ. Sounds a lot like Christmas, huh? Well, it should because apparently it was and may still be celebrated instead of Christmas in some places. It is called Little Christmas by the Irish, Befana in Rome, El Dia de Reyes or Pascua de Negros (Blackman Christmas) by the those in Spain, Cuba and some Latin American countries and who know what else by all the other people of the world!

Not only is it all of those other things, it is also the Twelfth Day of Christmas! That's right, the 12 days of Christmas are after December 25th which means that we have still been in the Christmas season the last 12 days! The reason for the 12 days of Christmas is because it is believed that the wise men followed the star for 12 days to find Christ.

And to celebrate this holiday, you have to have a King's cake.

The King's cake is round to represent the circular route that the wise men took to avoid going back to Jerusalem. A plastic baby is hidden inside the cake because Mary and Joseph had to hide baby Jesus to protect Him from Herod. Whoever gets the piece with the baby in it is the one who brings the King's cake to next year's celebration.

The bottom picture is the King's cake that I made. As you can see, it is not in a circle and the reason for that is because it wasn't forming into the circle as easily as I wanted so I just threw it down in a rectangle. I didn't learn of the significance of the circle until after making it, otherwise I may have tried harder to get mine to work properly.

I have no idea if this thing will taste good but I am anxious to try it! It has a cream cheese filling and lemon flavored icing that sound absolutely delightful!

There is so much more about this holiday that I have yet to learn but I'm beginning to think it just might become my favorite holiday. To think that I have lived every other sixth day of January not knowing of the wonderful time I could be having! I tried having a big Feast of the Epiphany celebration tonight but the short notice made things a bit difficult. So it will just be Courto and I. But next year, oh man, it will be quite a wonderful celebration! You may want to save the date and start a travel fund if necessary!

Here are a few links if you all care to learn a bit more about the Feast of the Epiphany.

Just 7 Days After Christmas!

2009-12-31T12:05:00.004-05:00

Merry Christmas 7 days late! I hope everyone had a splendid day! I had a delightful time out in the great state of Colorado in the presence of some lovely people - Mom, Dad, Courto, Matt and Sonya.

We arrived home on Tuesday evening. When we left for Colorado, my room was in utter disarray - I couldn't even sleep in the place because my bed was loaded down with stuff. Within the hour of our return, I was whipping my room back into shape.

After cleaning my room up to a temporarily agreeable state I began making my plan of attack for the rest of my Christmas break. This past semester my life has gotten into a bit of disarray and my room was just a visual of the disorganization I put myself through. So I made myself a list of things I need to get done during break. And then I made a list of habits that I need to establish in my life to help stop the disarray from repeating itself. I'll share my habit list with you and you can ask me how I'm doing on sticking to them.

Habits To Develop/ Redevelop In 2010:

Tithing after each pay check
Reading up on current world events
Praying for country & world - believers
Praying for Estery & Rafiki
Completing & sending mentor logs after each meeting with Suzie
Filing statements
Weekly checking bank accounts & credit card
Sticking to a budget - SAVING
Journaling daily
Blogging weekly
Calling family members on a regular basis
Writing to Grandma W.
Sharing the Gospel/ Giving testimony to what God has done and is doing for me
Memorizing Scripture
Exercising
Taking vitamins twice a day
Doing my Bible study in the morning
Flossing teeth every night
Giving people gifts on time

Yesterday Mom and I left to get groceries around noon and came home about seven hours later. Needless to say, we added a few extra quick little stops in to our trip. One of those "quick little stops" was Target. I wanted to get some refills for my planner so I can get my life organized but they were fresh out. So I got some wrapping paper instead. This brings up another area of my life that has gone into utter disarray! Giving gifts - I really shafted some people this year on birthday and Christmas gifts or even just a card - sorry to those of you who were on the receiving end of that. (Just added that to my habit list) But that is going to change this year because I have all my Christmas wrapping needs ready to go. And at a steal of a deal: 15 sheets of tissue paper, 5 gift bags, 16 gift cards and 1 roll of wrapping paper - all for $3.21! Amazing, huh?

Just 29 Days Until Christmas!

2009-11-27T22:59:00.003-05:00

First off, I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving but... now that Turkey Day has come and gone, I would just like to send out an official welcome to the Christmas season! Although a large portion of the world has already begun to partake of Christmassy things, I have held back until today. Today I busted out my Christmas shirt, striped jingle bell sock and I listened to some Christmas music! And during some of the many down moments at work today I got to do some Christmas coloring. Just imagine that my picture says "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays" and it will make it look a little better.

Heaven Has Come Down!

2009-11-17T20:21:00.003-05:00

My craving for cream cheese smothered pickles wrapped in ham proved to be no small craving and by Monday night I had decided it was time to pick up the necessary items to create these bits of heaven. On my way home from Bible study I stopped by O'Malia's Food Market, snatched up my goods, hurried home, tore into my purchases, assembled my creations and devoured these tasty pickings. And let me tell you - they were oh sooooooooo satisfying! Completely amazing! Astoundingly stupendous! Absolutely delightful! Incredibly ambrosial!

Modicums From My Life

2009-11-15T18:48:00.020-05:00

A couple days ago I paid T.J. Maxx a visit and made a big purchase for myself - a pair of snowpants! Now I am not a big fan of snow, which is good since we don't get too many dumping of white fluff in Indianapolis. But for the few times that we do get snow, I thought it would be nice to be properly equipped. So when I saw these nice Columbia pants for 34.99 I thought I'd snatch them up. I'm planning on these lasting me for the rest of my life. And now, Matt and Sonya, I am prepared to visit you over Christmas if the opportunity arises! However, I'm still in need of a pair of snowboots that fit.

Last week in my Bible study I was reading John chapter 5. As some of you may know, verse 4 is left out but I did not realize this and it just blew my mind. The verse itself and the fact that it was left out caused a lengthy discussion between mom, Nealy and I. Here are the verses so you'll know what I'm talking about.

"Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people

used to lie - the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease he had. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, 'Do you want to get well?' 'Sir,' the invalid replied, 'I have no one to help me into the pool when the when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.'" (Verse 4 is in italics)

So what really blew my mind was this whole angel of the Lord stirring up the water and these invalids being healed. Nealy said she remembers Sunday school stories about this but I most certainly don't remember reading this or hearing any stories about this. It all just sounded a little strange to me. I believe that God can heal people in whatever way He chooses but this method is quite different than any of the other ways seen in the Bible. Verse 4 does make verse 7 (the invalid's response to Jesus asking him if he'd like to be well) more understandable. So I don't know if verse 4 is true or not, if you have an opinion on the matter, please share your insight. Even though I didn't really understand the verse, I did find an amusing thought from it. I had this image of an angel flying in over the pool on a cloud pulling a gigantic spoon out of his robe, extending it into the pool and giving it a good mix. In the meantime I saw all of the blind and lame people pushing, shoving and stumbling over each other as they raced toward the pool to see who could get in first. This may not be good of me, but I had a nice chuckle.... or healthy laugh, as this image passed through my mind.

On Saturday I went to a friend's to have some real English tea. She's from the UK and had just gotten back from a visit home and was stocked up with good English tea. Honestly, I didn't notice much difference but I did thoroughly enjoy the tea all the same. Something else that she brought back from the UK that I am thoroughly excited about are these Happy Hippos that you see above. I first experienced these delightful little snacks when I was spending my semester in Italy. I absolutely loved these things! There are two variations: the first has a creamy milk and hazelnut filling with a thin, wafery shell. The other is milk and cocoa inside and both look like cute little hippos. You just can't go wrong with these things! I was so disappointed when I got back home and couldn't find these things anywhere. When Laura left for England she asked if I wanted her to bring anything back. I didn't remember seeing happy hippos when I was in London but thought I'd ask her if she'd seen them at home. And fortunately she had!

Since meeting Laura a couple months ago, I have been drinking a lot more tea. In fact one week instead of drinking my usual morning cup of coffee each day, I drank tea. And I do especially enjoy drinking it the British way - with milk. While I do like English breakfast tea, I think one of my new favorite teas is Earl Grey.

About four or five weeks ago I finally got another job! I am now employed by the Picture People, a photography studio in the Greenwood Park Mall. The picture on the left is what I look like at work... kind of.

Today I have been having some serious meat cravings, specifically a delectable steamed bagel sandwich from theRipple Bagel & Deli in Broad Ripple. I have only been here twice and both times I have gotten the evil doer: roast beef, cream cheese, smoke 'em out cheddar, sprouts, mustard and mayo on a sunflower bagel. It's terribly amazing and I want it right now! I think I could also settle for a couple cream cheese smothered baby pickles wrapped in ham.

Speaking of pickles, I decided to open my horizons and follow dad's example by putting some bread and butter pickles on my burger. And I have decided that I am officially a fan!

Thought I'd Pester Your Eyes A Bit More

2009-10-20T18:29:00.000-04:00

My Imaginary Friend

2009-10-14T21:36:00.003-04:00

The other day as I was walking to my class at IUPUI, I passed the Democracy Plaza where students, faculty and staff gather to hash out differing thoughts and views on various topics of life. I saw this written on one of the plaza columns: "Adults who have invisible friends are stupid." At first I agreed with this, thinking "Yeah, that's pretty silly for adults to have invisible friends" and then it dawned on me that it was referring to Christians being stupid for believing in God. That's when I decided I didn't agree with it so much! But it did get me to thinking. That, and this question I was asked during my BSF lecture on Monday night, "Why do I follow God?" Later that day I saw this video:

The thought I saw written on the column at IUPUI did not make wonder if I believed in a lie or cause me to think that I simply talk to a figment of my imagination when I pray to God. When asked why I follow God at BSF, I didn't feel as though the time I've spent learning about God, seeking after God, and living to please God throughout the years have been a waste of my time. I didn't need the argument presented in the video to assure me that God exists.

So what did these questions get me to thinking about? If I think that God is more than just a fabricated invisible friend and that learning about God, seeking after God, and living to please God is worthwhile, am I living like I believe these things? Does my life show that I believe in a God who has the power, intelligence and artistry to create the universe? Does my life show that I believe in a God that is holy, loving and merciful enough to provide a way to justify sinners, give purpose to life and promise a future with Him? Or does my life seem to say that I believe in something as weak and meaningless as a childish imaginary friend?

Buggy Eyes

2009-09-26T13:03:00.005-04:00

I am working on a project for school where I will be creating some kind of geometric pattern using just medium gray, black and white. While doing some research I came upon a few illusional pictures that got my eyes going a little buggy. I know you all have seen these things before but I thought I'd share some more with you just for kicks.

Google Man's Location of the Moment

2009-09-17T16:10:00.004-04:00

I discovered today that the little man on Google Maps can be dragged over to the map and will show you a picture of wherever he lands. I found this quite entertaining. He even "runs" from site to site! I think this could be addicting! Try it out yourself and see what I mean!

Junket to Cincinnati

2009-08-31T17:58:00.002-04:00

This past Saturday was my birthday and to celebrate Mom, Courto and I went to Cincinnati. The big stops were Ikea, Jungle Jim's and Graeter's. Jungle Jim's, a huge international grocery store, was by far the best stop. It is filled with all kinds of wonderfulness that takes hours to see it all! In the picture, are the treasures I came away with: some white gourd juice, lavender flavoring (now everyone who comes to visit me can experience a lavender latte!), Fun Dips in the new tropical flavors with a lime dip stix, sake, ginger cola, Underburg, tea and Japanese coffee. It's quite difficult choosing what to get here. Next time I want to have some recipes to get ingredients for an international meal.

Mysterious Appearing

2009-08-10T11:20:00.005-04:00

I woke up this morning to find this mysterious drawing on my foot. Courtney, were you doodling on my foot while I was sleeping last night?

Strange Stories, Amazing Facts

2009-07-29T13:51:00.006-04:00

A little over two years ago Courtney and I ventured out to Minnesota to visit Ellie, one of my friends from Italy for a few days before we all headed out to Idaho to visit Anneke, another friend from Italy. We stopped in at one of Ellie's favorite coffee shops and as we sat sipping our coffee, I found much entertainment from a book laying on one of the tables. It was Strange Stories, Amazing Facts. I fell in love with this book and asked if I could buy it. The lady there at the time didn't have say over the books but called me back the next day with the glorious news that I could purchase the book! I think this book may have begun a new phase in my life which should be easy to guess - my fascination with anything strange or amazing!

Since purchasing this book, I have found many other books of the same sort. I realized the other day that I had not read it for quite some time so I remedied that by reading some to Courtney and Emily as we drove around by Pike's Peak. (I don't think they appreciate it as much as I do.)

I thought I would share a story with all of you as well! I didn't spend muhch time picking this story out. In fact I just chose to you the one that appeared when I opened it up. This story if from the "Footsteps into the Unknown" section.

THE FICTION THAT CAME TRUE

Strange case of the two Titanics

A floating palace sailed from Southampton in 1898 on her maiden voyage. It was the biggest and grandest liner ever built, and rich passengers savored its luxury as they journeyed to the United States. But the ship never reached its destination: Its hull was ripped open by an iceberg, and it sank with heavy loss of life.

That liner existed only on paper, in the imagination of a novelist named Morgan Robertson. The name he gave to his fictional ship was Titan, and the book's title was Futility.

Both the fiction and the futility were to turn into terrifying fact. Fourteen years later a real luxury liner set out on a similar maiden voyage. It too was laden with rich passengers. It too rammed an iceberg and sank; and, as in Robertson's novel, the loss of life was fearful because there were not enough lifeboats. It was the night of April 14, 1912. The ship was the RMS Titanic.

Passenger's preview of doom

In many other ways than the similarity of their names the Titan of Robertson's novel was a near duplicate of the real Titanic. They were roughly the same size, had the same speed and the same carrying capacity of about 3,000 people. Both were "unsinkable." And both sank in exactly the same spot in the North Atlantic.

But the strange coincidences do not end there. The famous journalist W.T. Stead published in 1892, a short story that proved to be a preview of the Titanic disaster. Stead was a Spiritualist: He was also one of the 1, 513 people who died when the Titanic went down.

Backward recollection

Neither Robertson's horror novel nor Stead's prophetic story served as a warning to the Titanic's captain in 1912. But a recollection of that appalling tragedy did save another ship in similar circumstances 23 years later.

A young seaman named William Reeves was standing watch in the bow of a tramp steamer, Canada-bound from England in 1935. It was April - the month of the iceberg disasters, real and fictional - and young Reeves had brooded deeply on them. His watch was due to end at midnight. This, he knew, was the time the Titanic had hit the iceberg. Then, as now, the sea had been calm.

These thoughts took shape and swelled into omens in the seaman's mind as he stood his lonely watch. His tired, bloodshot eyes strained ahead for any sign of danger, but there was nothing to be seen; nothing but a horizonless, impenetrable gloom. He was scared to shout an alarm, fearing his shipmate's ridicule. But he also was scared not to do so.

Then, suddenly, he remembered the exact date of the Titanic accident - April 14, 1912. The coincidence was terrifying - it was the day he had been born. He shouted out a danger warning, and the helmsman rang the signal: engines full astern. The ship churned to a halt - just yards from a huge iceberg that towered menacingly out of the night.

More deadly icebergs crowded in around the tramp steamer, and it took nine days for icebreakers from Newfoundland to smash a way clear.

The name of the ship that nearly shared the Titanic's fate was, ironically, the Titanian.

Saying Farewell (for now at least...)

2009-07-28T21:40:00.007-04:00

Exactly four months ago, my dream of getting dreads came true! While I am thoroughly glad I got them, I have decided that my hair is not very conducive to maintaining the knotted look.

I have asked Matt to shave my head when he comes out to Indiana in September but until then I decided to chop my hair myself! I chopped all of the dreads out and then Nealy helped me shape it up a bit. But it really looked pretty good right after I just hacked everything off!

I'm hoping Matt chooses to accept my proposition and then I have this crazy hope that my hair will grow back frizzy so I can get some good looking dreads that will last!

For a more thorough viewing of this farewell process, you can visit my facebook page.

Slingin the Slang

2009-07-27T22:05:00.005-04:00

After our visit to Pike's Peak on Saturday we went to Columbus to enjoy a little dessert at Zaharakos. It was a really neat old ice cream parlor that had been closed for a couple of years and just reopened in June. As soon as we were seated, we were entertained by our enlightening placemats. I particularly liked this one that has a bit of early 1900s lingo on it.

The Indiana Mountain

2009-07-26T15:19:00.010-04:00

For those of you who don't remember or perhaps did not see my post about Pike's Peak, IN I'd like to direct you back to that post so you can better appreciate this post.

The other day Courto and Emily, a friend from IWU and myself went to check out the mountain in Indiana! Here we are at the summit of Pike's Peak, Elev. 840 ft.

We took some back country roads through Brown County territory (up in highlands) to get there. Besides the mountain, I didn't really know what to expect from Pike's Peak, IN. Our directions ended shortly after turning onto Bellsville Road. We drove by Crouch's Market but it still looked a little rural so we decided to trek a little further to find the heart of town. However, in a mile or less we saw a church bearing the name "Harmony" and decided to retreat to Crouch's Market. Apparently, the market is the heart of town as it is the only business and non-residential establishment besides the Church of Christ.

The market was a mini Walmart, faithfully serving the needs of the community at the foot of Pike's Peak. In the back corner was this fantastic little section that filled with hats, t-shirts, and sweatshirts, all at least 20 years old or more. I absolutely loved these shirts and am proudly modeling my find in the picture!

As a little bonus to our trip to Pike's Peak, IN we found this great little stone head mile marker just outside of town. We decided to have our lunch by him. Apparently all of the motorists who drove by thought this was funny but I didn't get to see their humored facial expressions because my back was to them.

Dining Alfresco

2009-07-24T19:45:00.019-04:00

Last Sunday Courto, Danielle and I went on a picnic. We had chicken salad and lemonade in my new glass bottle! And of course we got to use my new picnic basket! It was simply magnificent. However, I will admit to a few flaws. I was the creator of the chicken salad and I chose not to have the chicken diced really small (Courto did the cutting). I wasn't really thinking about how they can be a bit sloppy in a croissant and small pieces help it stay inside better.Plus, it just spreads the chicken goodness around more! The other fault of the chicken salad is that I forgot to put the walnuts in! I made the salad on Saturday afternoon and didn'twant the nuts to get soggy. So I'm not sure what's better... soggy nuts or no nuts. But to make up for my chicken salad mishaps, I did make some pretty good sour cream cookies.

P.S. Sorry for the sloppy layout. I gave up on Blogger!

Coffee News

2009-07-16T23:01:00.002-04:00

The other day I stopped in at The Bean Cup and picked up the latest issue of Coffee News. These things are simply fantastic! It is filled with local news, random quotes, trivia and interesting facts. And you can enter to win a $200 prize pack! Why have I not paid better attention to these gold-mines of information and opportunity?! For those of you who may also have been neglecting your local Coffee News, let me share some interesting facts for you that I have learned from my issue.

A Quoteable Quote:

"Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." Albert Einstein

Did You Know...

The average hippopotamus can hold up to 400 pounds of food in its belly. Despite its tremendous size, it can run short distances at 30 mph, faster than an Olympic sprinter.

Let Us Mend Our Pace

2009-07-16T22:48:00.002-04:00

I have just begun reading The Pilgrim's Progress and am finding the old English to be rather entertaining. One quote I have especially enjoyed is made by Pliable after Christian has been explaining the wonders of the heaven: "Well, my good Companion, glad am I to hear of these things; come on, let us mend our pace." I can't wait to tell someone to mend their pace when they are being a bit too putsy!

Pickles!

2009-07-08T23:22:00.006-04:00

I really need to hit the sack but I just discovered something so exciting I would burst if I could not share it somehow!

A while ago I learned about Sechler's Pickle Factory and wrote it down in my notebook as a place of interest after learning you could get orange, lemon, apple cinnamon and raisin flavored pickles.

Tonight I thought I'd find out where where this place was at and in the process I learned another wonderful bit of information about Sechler's... they have a Pickle Festival in August! And at this 13th Annual Pickle Festival one of the many great things you can do is acquaint your taste-buds with pickle ice cream!

My Beautiful Old Bicycle!

2009-06-23T12:24:00.011-04:00

Last Friday and Saturday there was a wonderful event called the Buchanan Community Garage Sale. This event is huge, people even take off of work to attend. I was informed of this event the first week I was here at Life Action and was greatly anticipating its arrival! However, when morning came last Friday, things did not look so hopeful for this cherished event. The sky was dark, thunder rumbled, lightening struck and rain poured from the sky! Carrie and I were almost sure there would be no garage sales open so we just went about our business, running a few errands in Buchanan. After finishing up, we noticed the weather had improved a bit and decided to make a little run through town to see if anyone had opened up shop. As we drove up the main thoroughfare we saw a few people walking, armed and ready for a day of garage saling, and our hopes rose! Then we looked to our right and were delighted to see open doors welcoming eager shoppers into their treasure-filled garage!

It was not hard to find and abundance of wonders but the real treasure came right at the end of Carrie and I's shopping extravaganza. At our last stop were two vintage bikes. Ever since I returned from Italy I have dreamed of owning a quaint old bike that I could put a basket on and ride all over town in. After Carrie helped me barter the beautiful vintage bike down to $15, my dream has now become a reality! I could barely wait to take my bike out on a ride and did so as soon as we got home. It was just a short first ride because lightening cut it short. But when the sky cleared up I headed out again and ventured around on country roads for a little over an hour. And let me tell you, it was glorious!

Memorizing to Cognizance

2009-06-18T23:40:00.003-04:00

For almost three weeks now I have been having a grand old time with Dennis and Carrie up in South Bend. During the week Carrie has been helping me get my tush out of bed in the morning to go on a walk/run with her. She works on her memory verses while walking and has appointed me to keep her from making up her own version of the Bible. Carrie has several chapters memorized and after listening to her say her verses, I was inspired to get back into a memorizing routine.

Last fall I had been working on Proverbs 2:1-6 and decided to pick those up again. I'm also trying to memorize Romans 6, 7 & 8. So far I have Romans 6:1-4 down and am ready to move on to the next couple verses.

In the last couple of months, I had been having a rather lackadaisical attitude any time I read my Bible. I wasn't necessarily very excited about my lack of excitement for God's word and began to pray for a renewed interest and hunger for His word. I have found that memorizing Scripture has greatly increased my excitement for and joy in God's word.

I was just reviewing my Romans verses and was reminded of some quotes I read the other day in Worldliness by C. J. Mahaney so I decided to look at them too. Romans chapter 6 is talking about how I died with Christ so that I can live a new life. So often when I think of dying to sin I just create a list of all the things I shouldn't do. I really appreciated the perspective that Mahaney took on dying to sin. Here are some of the quotes I like from the book thus far:

"The evil in our desires often lies not in what we want, but in the fact that we want it too much." (David Powlison paraphrase of John Calvin)

"Worldliness... loving the values and pursuits of the world that stand opposed to God." (C.J. Mahaney)

"We must fight worldliness because it dulls our affections for Christ and distracts our attention from Christ. Worldliness is so serious because Christ is so glorious." (C.J. Mahaney)

"Meditate on the cross. Consider the wonders of the Savior who died for sinners and rose victorious over sin and death. Dwell where the cries of Calvary are louder than the clamor of the world." (C.J. Mahaney)

Quite Possibly the Funniest Verses

2009-06-16T11:10:00.006-04:00

This morning I read what may be the funniest verses in the entire Bible. Here they are:

II Kings 2:23-24 From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. "Go on up, you baldhead!" they said. "Go on up, you baldhead!" He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.

I thought it was hilarious that Elisha was called a "baldhead" but perhaps that's because I don't really understand the meaning of such an insult. However, when Carrie and I looked at StudyLight.org we discovered that "baldhead" merely means "bald". So it kind of seems like Elisha was just a very sensitive guy. I know this is probably not a very good biblical interpretation but at first and second and third reading of these verses I had a good laugh.

Pike's Peak or Bust!

2009-06-14T21:54:00.011-04:00

For some time now I have been dreaming of finding a mountain in Indiana. I know this really is quite impossible but yet I still had hope I could find one. There is a burning desire within me to find this Indiana mountain, climb it, come back down, buy a t-shirt, draw a picture of me on top of the mountain in Indiana and proudly wear this t-shirt boasting the feat I have just accomplished. This dream will soon be able to become a reality as a result of a discovery I made today!

While looking at a map of Indiana to find where the center of the United State's population is located (another great adventure waiting to happen!) I saw these word's: Pike's Peak! And you all thought Pike's Peak was in Colorado! No, no. America's Mountain may be in Colorado, but Pike's Peak is just a little bit southwest of Columbus, Indiana.

Apparently a man named Adrian Miller was planning on moving out to Colorado to take advantage of the 1875 Homestead Act. As he set out west his conestoga wagon declared his intent: "Pike's Peak or Bust"! However, Miller only made it slightly further than Columbus, IN. In an effort to maintain his dignity, he named the hill Pike's Peak and the name settled in.

I am so excited about this new Indiana find and cannot wait to go hike this "mountain" and make my t-shirt! Would anyone like to join me on this tremendous adventure in the Indiana wilderness?

A Natural Wonder of Northern Indiana

2009-06-14T21:08:00.009-04:00

I have recently been made aware of an erroneous assumption I have been harboring in regard to North America's geographical status. It has always been my belief that there is only one continental divide in North America... until I received enlightenment today! There are in fact four continental divides in North America. The largest and most well-known of the four is the Great Divide. However, as you can see from the map above there are also the Northern, Eastern and St. Lawrence Divides.

The reason I have taken an interest in the continental divides is because I happened to pass by the North/South Continental Divide while driving through the great state of Indiana on U.S. 31 Bypass. The water on the north side of the divide is carried up by the St. Joseph River into the Great Lakes and eventually into the Atlantic Ocean. Water on the southern side of the divide will be carried by the Kankakee River into the Gulf of Mexico.

For more information about all four of the continental divides in North America I recommend a visit to this site.

My Sewn Creation

2009-06-08T17:19:00.003-04:00

For quite some time now I have been thinking about how I should start sewing more often and a couple weeks ago I put those thoughts into action! Before coming up to South Bend I made it my goal to make a skirt. While looking for some fabric I came upon some old dress shirts that Dad had given to me. I thought it would be a fantastically simple idea to make a skirt out of one.

However, as I was explaining my technique to Mom she became disgusted with me and told me to use a pattern. And being the kind mother that she is, she found one that showed how to make a skirt out of a men's shirt. I ended up buying another shirt that didn't have a pocket on it to stick with the pattern Mom found me. After following the pattern, I was able to produce what you see above. I'm quite pleased with my skirt, feel a bit more confident in my sewing abilities and am looking forward to my next sewn creation!

Feeding My Obsession

2009-05-28T13:45:00.011-04:00

Last summer while in Colorado Springs I visited this delightful coffee house called Agia Sophia. There are many reasons why Agia is delightful such as their location in Old Colorado City, their quaint, peaceful atmosphere and interesting books but what really sparked my love for Agia Sophia was their lavender flavoring. I had never before seen lavender flavoring and thought I ought to try it out. Little did I know that the moment I took the first sip of my iced lavender latte, an obsession with lavender had also been swallowed.

Since that time I have acquired lavender lotion, incense sticks, tea, an eye pillow, linen spray, soap, bubble bath and a lavender plant! My taste buds have relished the experiences of lavender in water, bread, salad, a smoothie, chocolate and shortbread. Oh, and I got to clean with lavender scented pledge!

As you can see, I do love lavender. However, I have decided that herbs in general are simply fantastic. Therefore I have decided to start an herb garden.

Along with an indoor and outdoor lavender plant, I am also now in the business of nurturing the following herbs: chocolate mint, peppermint, oregano, pineapple mint, lemon balm and thai basil. The chocolate mint, lemon balm and of course the lavender have an absolute heavenly scent! I just love my little herb babies!

Searching For A Name

2009-05-27T11:44:00.007-04:00

Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending some time in one of my favorite stores - Goodwill! I found this wonderful treasure there but am not really sure what it is. Mom thought it could be a writing desk while I suggested it could be a portable coffee table and cane combo! Although mine sounds the most possible I am open to other opinions on this object's life calling. Perhaps there is a bright mind out there that could supply us with occupation of this object or just affirm my speculation.

My Cross-Country Peregrination

2009-05-26T23:04:00.007-04:00

It's a good thing I only said it was my aspiration to post twice a week and not my promise because I have failed miserably! I'm sorry for neglecting the Salmagundi.

As you all know, I have been traversering around the country this semester. My peregrination came to an end a couple weeks ago on May 8th. The map above and the letters below give a recap of my ventures.

A: Indianapolis, IN - left home on February 4th!

B: Clarksville, TN - had lunch with Howie who I met last summer at camp.

C: Athens, GA - stayed overnight at Natalia's, who I also met at camp.

D: Windermere, FL - stayed with JaMarcus & Rosie from February 5th - March 3rd.

E: Mobile, AL - stayed overnight at America's Best Value.

F: Waxahachie, TX - stayed overnight at the Nealys.

G: Tucson, AZ - stayed with Uncle Bill from and daily invaded Uncle Dennis, Aunt Susie & Grandma's abode from March 6th - April 30th.

H: Phoenix, AZ - stayed with Uncle Jim & Auntie Del for a couple days in April.

I: Tucson, AZ

J: San Diego, CA - stopped to visit the coast with Peter and saw some seals.

K: Los Angeles, CA - stayed overnight at Peter's cousin's and went to Six Flags and Chinatown.

L: Tucson, AZ - left Arizona on April 3oth.

M: Colorado Springs, CO - stayed with Matt & Sonya from May 1st - 6th.

N: Fort Collins, CO - stayed over night with Windee, another counselor from camp.

O: Fort Dodge, IA - ate at Ja-Mar's with Anna, stayed overnight at the Bowsers.

P: Cedar Falls, IA - had lunch with Lucas and Jordan.

Q: Indianapolis, IN - back home on May 8th!

Some of you may remember a post I made last fall about a revision in my thinking/planning of life. Here's a quick link if you'd like your memory jogged. This semester of travel may not seem to fit into that revised line of thought very well so I thought I'd give the reasoning behind my trip.

My original plan for this semester was to stay at home in Indy and take classes full-time at Ivy Tech while continuing to babysit part-time. When I could only get into one class I started to think of other options.

The first idea was an internship down in Florida. Despite Rosie's efforts at networking for me, I wasn't able to find a place to do an internship but I guess Rosie had gotten used to the idea of me coming down for the semester and suggested I just come and work some place. When finding a job seemed a bit pickly, she then suggested I just come down for a month and visit. By this time I had really gotten used to the idea of going down to Florida and thought this sounded like a good plan.

Then Dad asked me if I would want to go down to Arizona for a month or two to help take care of Grandma. I was a little hesitant at first about this idea because I didn't feel qualified to help take care of Grandma. However, I decided I could figure it out and began planning Arizona into my semester as well.

After deciding on these two destinations, the question of transportation arose. Flying was mentioned but driving won out because of the convenience and adventure it would provide. And since I was driving, why not add a few more destinations?!

I thoroughly enjoyed each leg of my trip and am quite glad I made this cross-country trek! All the time in the car was great for listening to music and books on tape, prayer and just thinking. I loved seeing new sites and the numerous regions of this country. Thanks, Mom, for letting me borrow your camera so I could capture them all! And without the many great people I got to see and visit, the trip would have been a bit stodgy. Thanks so much to everyone who opened up their home to me and gave me shelter and food and good company!

I Stand Corrected

2009-04-21T03:28:00.005-04:00

A few posts down I called my favorite Arizona tree with the little yellow fuzz balls a mesquite tree and I must confess that information is incorrect. Upon trying to do a bit of research to discover some of its unique attributes and uses, I could not find a mesquite that had the little fuzz balls. Today Uncle Bill and I sneezed at the brutal 89 degrees and took a visit to the Arizona Desert Museum where I found out that the tree is actually a sweet acacia, which is also part of the legume family.

Some interesting uses for the tree are headache relief, aid in the healing of wounds, mending broken pottery, treating pink eye, styling hair and soothing sore throats. While researching mesquite trees a few days ago, I found a great recipe to cure headaches at this site. (Scroll down to last paragraph of "Mesquites as Botanical Friends") Perhaps the headache ointment made from sweet acacia is similar.

Here are a few of my favorite photos from the Desert Museum today:

Century Agave Cactus
Prickly Pear Cactus
Ocotillo Cactus
Prickly Pear Cactus
A cactus with a flower - I think it's a Cholla Cactus

Evelyn Champagne King - Love Come Down

2009-04-17T02:43:00.003-04:00

As I was scanning the Tucson radio stations on my way back to Uncle Bill's tonight I stumbled upon this gem of a song. I couldn't resist dancing along to the boss 80s beat. If only I could have seen some of these great moves from the video while I was cruising along! However, I think I could have added a few moves myself to enhance Evelyn's choreography. I hope you all have a delightful dancing session!

Tidbits from GoGo Sandy

2009-04-16T15:06:00.009-04:00

I met Sandy when I went to Malawi in the summer of 2007. She had been at Rafiki for two months before I got there and left at the same time I did. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to spend my month in Africa with GoGo Sandy and was glad that she also lived in Indiana! We've met up a few times since getting back and keep in touch via e-mail. I stinking love this lady, she always makes me laugh and inspires me with her generous spirit and adventurous attitude. Just recently she sent me a list she entitled "tidbits of useless knowledge" that I thought I would pass along to you viewers. Here they are:

A cockroach can live several weeks with its head cut off.

A giraffe can clean its ears with its 21 inch tongue

A sneeze travels out of your mouth at over 100 m.p.h.

Mosquitoes have teeth

Most American car horns beep in the key of F

A mole can dig a tunnel 300 feet in just one night

In case you are wondering which one Sandy is in the picture, she's the mzunga (white person). And if you were also wondering what "gogo" means, it's the Malawian word for "grandma".

My Favorite Arizona Tree

2009-04-11T05:52:00.004-04:00

I absolutely love these little yellow fuzz balls on the mesquite tree. I get so excited when I see them! And that's all I have to say about them.

Aunt Susie's Favorite Sleeve Ilk

2009-04-06T03:20:00.008-04:00

Thanks to Uncle Dennis' newspaper word game, I learned a new word today: raglan. In the picture below I am modeling a raglan jacket as well as demonstrating what you get to do upon entering the barn in the wonderful game of euchre (milk the cow!).

Here is a definition of raglan for you:

adj. Having or being a sleeve that extends in one piece to the neckline of the garment, with slanted seams from the armhole to the neck.

n. A garment, such as an overcoat or a sweater, that has raglan sleeves.

The word came about between 1860-65 and was named after Lord Raglan, a British field marshal who had a raglan coat fashioned to accommodate his new frame after loosing an arm in the Battle of Waterloo.

Exercise that Brain!

2009-04-02T12:24:00.003-04:00

A few days ago Aunt Susie and I took a trip to Bookman's, a used bookstore. We didn't spend too long at the store, but it was still enough time for me to find and come away with one small treasure, which is the book you see to your left. I thought I would get it to exercise my brain a bit and while I'm at it, I may as well allow you all the same opportunity! Here is your first puzzle:

In a certain bank the positions of cashier, manager, and teller are held by Brown, Jones and Smith, though not necessarily respectively.

The teller, who was an only child, earns the least.

Smith, who married Brown's sister, earns more than the manager.

What position does each man fill?

I encourage you to print this little puzzle out so you can study it throughout the day, unless of course you're just so smart all you need is one glance.

Sweet Solutions

2009-04-01T17:03:00.008-04:00

I was reading in National Geographic today and I learned a sweet little fact about honey. Apparently it works quite splendidly in the healing process when applied to a wound. So next time you scrape your knee, instead of reaching for the antibiotic ointment you can just slather a little honey on your boo-boo!

When I was a wee little girl but not too wee of a girl, Grandpa told me he liked to use honey instead of sugar to sweeten his coffee. I usually just throw some flavored creamer in my coffee but if that's not available I do like to jazz up my coffee with a drizzle of honey. While looking for pictures of honey, I found these cute little honey cubes to add to your cup of coffee or tea. You can go here to find out more info about these handy little cubes.

I'm Done Talking

2009-03-28T05:37:00.007-04:00

For a couple years now I have been talking about wanting dreads and this past summer I came very close to getting them. The first weekend I was at camp some girls told me they would dread my hair but something always came up the next nine weeks of camp and I never got them done. But today someone who tried to dissuade me from getting dreads helped make my dream of dreaded hair come true! Thanks, Sarah! Sarah and her roommate, Ashley spent about seven hours today knotting my hair into an organized mess and I absolutely love it!!

My Stylists: Ashley (left) and Sarah (right)

The Spork That Lit My Fire

2009-03-27T03:13:00.004-04:00

Success at last! I am finally able to show you the beautiful spork I purchased in Gainesville!

Beautiful Black Lines

2009-03-27T02:43:00.007-04:00

I was just turning on my computer to grab a little info needed for my internship application when I stumbled upon a wonderful discovery - three beautiful black lines on my navigation bar or whatever it's called informed me that I am reaping the benefits of someone's wireless internet connection!

You may have wondered if I had decided to give up on blogging due to my severe lack of posts. I am sorry to have left you devoid of a bit of mental stimulation for the past month. Here is my excuse for my dormant blog: I haven't been able to get on-line with my computer up till now which means I couldn't post any pictures and Uncle Bill's connection is putsy and I've been too impatient to even think of posting from his computer. But now that I have found my free and convenient internet connection in the extra bedroom, I will try to keep you more informed!

For starters, I'll share a bit of knowledge Uncle Bill learned tonight and shared with

me. However, after doing a bit of research on Wikipedia just now, I am seeing that the tidbit he shared with me may be false. But I'll give you this little nugget of knowledge and let you decide who you want to trust. Uncle Bill told me that the word "golf" began from the acronym "gentlemen only, ladies forbidden" but Wikipedia says this is merely folk etymology.

My Fire Has Been Lit

2009-02-28T19:37:00.007-05:00

Have you ever wished you had your car or purse stocked with silverware? I have often wished I had a spoon to dive into a delicious pint of ice cream, a knife to split a sandwich or a fork to eat a piece of pie while traveling or simply out running errands and finding a delectable food item I simply cannot pass by. While up in Gainesville, FL last week I found an item that has exceeded my wildest silverware dreams! Unfortunately Blogger is being a bugger and is not letting me put a picture up. I've already had this post waiting in my dock to post and I'm tired of waiting! So check back later to see the beauty I've purchased.

The Incredible Edible Egg!

2009-02-26T12:22:00.012-05:00

For the majority of my life I have believed in the Incredible Edible Egg - as long as it was of the scrambled breed. In the last year or so my soul has begun to be convicted of this prejudice. I have decided it is high time I gave the other egg varieties a fair chance at becoming an Incredible Edible Egg. Before this time of conviction began, I had tasted eggs of varying ethnicities such as fried and poached. However, I did so with a very narrow mind. I allowed no room in my heart for a love of these egg clans. A renewal of my heart and soul has taken place as I am opening up my heart, taste buds and solar plexus to the varying egg flavors of the world. This open-minded attitude has opened my heart to a new egg love - eggs of the boiled or hard-cooked line.

To the left is Mr. Egg, lovingly put together by myself and Sophia. Before I began my wandering this semester I babysat for Cameron and Sophia every Friday. They absolutely loved boiled eggs and were always wanting to have one. One day I decided to join Sophia in her boiled egg indulgence. No stars burst forth with my first taste but I knew I had fallen in love when I began craving another boiled egg on our way to ballet.

That is why I made my first attempt at boiled eggs the other day. Below are my successful guinea pigs.

There is much more to say on the topic of eggs but it is time for me to depart the world wide web. Be expecting more incredible egg news soon!

Speaking of incredible, here's a bit of trivia for you in closing:

How long has the "Incredible Edible Egg" slogan been around?

a) 30 years

b) 20 years

c) 10 years

Vocabulary Enrichment #1

2009-02-20T10:36:00.003-05:00

I think the word "cool" has long been abused by myself and my fellow Americans. In an effert to bring this verbal abuse to a halt, I would like to suggest a few alternative words to use in its abscence.

If you are trying to convey a sense of wonder or enthusiam try some of these words:

Boss: adj. Exceptionally good.

Dandy: n. Something very good or agreeable. adj. Fine; good.

Divine: adj. 1. Supremely good or beautiful; magnificent. 2. Extremely pleasant; delightful.
3. Heavenly; perfect.

Glorious: adj. 1. Characterized by great beauty and splendor; magnificent. 2. Delightful; wonderful.

Hunky-dory: adj. About as well as one could wish or expect; satisfactory; fine; OK

Keen: adj. 1. Ardent; enthusiastic. 2. Great; splendid; fine.

Marvelous: adj. 1. Causing wonder or astonishment. 2. Of the highest or best kind or quality; first-rate.

Nifty: adj. First-rate; great. n. A nifty person or thing, especially a clever joke.

Swell: adj. 1. Fashionably elegant; stylish. 2. Excellent; wonderful.

If you are hoping to convey that a certain temperature feels cool you may want to clarify with one of these words:

Algid: adj. Cold; chilly.

Frosty: adj. Pleasantly cold and invigorating.

Shivery: adj. Trembling, as from cold or fear.

Snappy: adj. Pleasantly cold and invigorating.

Wintry: adj. Belonging to or characteristic of winter; cold.

If you are saying "cool" just to say something, you may be able to let someone know you have heard what they have said by saying some of these words:

Wow!

Great!

Ok.

Yes.

Yeah.

Really?

No way!

Get out of town!

For real?

For serious?

For true?

Nifty.

Huh.

Oh.

Hmm.

I see.

I hope this list will help us all to stop the onslaught of abuse that the innocent word of "cool" has been receiving. Please pass on any further suggestions or share a positive story of a time when you said "No!" to abusing cool.

The World's Largest Gator

2009-02-19T15:14:00.006-05:00

This past Saturday as Mark, Rosie and I drove to Dixie Crossroads to gorge ourselves on their scrumptious rock shrimp and corn fritters, I noticed a sign for the World's Largest Gator. I've been to Dixie once before and am not sure how I missed this delight to the eyes but nonetheless, I'm glad I saw it this time! Here is a glimpse of this awesome beast:

To get a fuller view of Swampy, head over to facebook to see the rest of my photos.

A Bit of Trivia

2009-02-19T13:59:00.003-05:00

The person who can give the correct answer to the following three questions will be given the opportunity to choose the next Country in the Spotlight or a post entirely customized to your desires - I will research and write on the topic of your choosing. This offer expires in two weeks (March 5, 2009 at 2:34pm EST). Don't miss out on your chance to win big!

Question #1: Who was the first person to refer to a coward as a "chicken"?

Question #2: What four colors did I dye my hair during my 19th year of life?

Question #3: Which city has more miles of canal than Venice, Italy?

Country in the Spotlight

2009-02-19T13:11:00.003-05:00

A few years ago I found a treasure on Amazon that has provided me with many chuckles since its purchase. The treasure I am referring to is The Clumsiest People In Europe. Mrs. Favell Lee Mortimer lived in England her entire life, venturing out of the country on only two occasions but that did not stop her from writing three books about the various regions of the world. She wrote The Countries of Europe Described in 1849, Far Off: Asia and Australia Described in 1852 and Far Off, Part II: Africa and America Described in 1854. In 2005 Todd Pruzan combined selections from each book and created The Clumsiest People In Europe or Mrs. Mortimer's Bad-Tempered Guide To The Victorian World. Although Mrs. Mortimer was not well-traveled she was well-read. It was from hundreds of books that Mrs. Mortimer gathered her information to open the eyes of her neighbors to the delights and atrocities of the world.

While Mrs. Mortimer is a fascinating subject indeed, the point of this post is not to talk about her but to share some of what she had to say. It's difficult to choose which country to place the spotlight on. To pay homage (or perhaps bring disgrace) to my ancestry I'm going to share Mrs. Mortimer's thoughts on Germany.

"If you were travelling through Germany you would see fine hills and great forests; but you would not see those pretty green fields and hedges all covered with May which are so pleasant in England. Where are the cows? They are in the stable. How strange it seems to keep you poor cow shut up in a stall! I am sure if you were a cow you would much sooner be an American cow feasting on the fresh grass than a German cow eating the bundles of weeds in a stable.

I cannot say the cottages are very pleasant. The lower room is the cow's stable. This would be well if the upper room was clean; but it is no. As the women are so much out of doors, they do not keep the house clean. There is a dresser with the shelves, beds with curtains, and a stove; but all is dirty and uncomfortable.

The Germans get up very early, and have a breakfast at six or seven o'clock, but they are content with a cup of coffee, and some dry bread; and they usually drink a glass of cold water before they begin.

They do not often drink tea, nor do they know well how to make it. I have heard of a maid at an inn who by mistake boiled the tea.

Many of the Germans are stout, tall, fine-looking men, - and no wonder, because they have plenty of good food, and hard work to make it agree with them. The women are fresh and fair, with round smiling faces, light hair, and blue eyes.

The ladies are very industrious, and wherever they go, they take their knitting. They are as fond of their knitting-needles as the gentlemen are of their pipes. The number of stockings they make would surprise you. How much better to knit than to smoke! When they are at home, the ladies spend a great deal of the time in cooking; they also spin, and have a great deal of linen of their own spinning, locked up in their great chests. Can they do nothing but knit, and cook, and spin? Yes, they can play on the piano, and the harp, and sing very sweetly. But they are not fond of reading useful books. When they read, it is novels about people who have never lived. It would be better to read nothing than such books.

At Christmas time, the parents please their children by getting a little tree, and sticking lights all over it, and hanging sham fruit and little figures upon it, and on the table near it they lay presents. But very naughty children are not allowed to see the tree, or to have any presents.

You must have seen already, that the Germans are very kind, and pleasant in their families. They are affectionate. They are careful, and cautious. It would be well if they were more neat and clean people, especially the poor people."

Toilets of the World

2009-02-19T12:00:00.010-05:00

If you have ever had a curiosity as Nealy did to deepen your knowledge of the beloved toilet, also endearingly known as the throne, comfort station or potty, I hope you will find this post enlightening. On the left hand side you will notice a visual thesaurus on the word "toilet", compliments of thesaurus.com.

I was going to attempt to talk about the toilet but after a peewee bundle of research I've decided to direct you to a few other sites that have done a splendid job of pulling this crap

together. This first site gives an informative introduction to a book entitled, Toilets of the World. Be sure to check out the Toilets of the World calendar also located on Amazon. The second site has a nice array of snapshots capturing a variety of toilets

around the world with a description for each.

Journeying to the Sunshine State

2009-02-09T22:59:00.003-05:00

At about 7:45am on February 4th I left the snow covered state of Indiana to make my way to the center of the Sunshine State. I stopped in Clarksville, TN to visit Howard, a friend I met at Eagle Lake. He took me to the Edelweiss Cafe where I thoroughly enjoyed my German cuisine of goulash and spatzle. It was so delicious! This salad was also from the Edelweiss and has primarily only earned a spot on this post because of its looks. If you are ever in Clarksville I highly recommend a trip to the Edelweiss. And while you're there you should be sure to visit the bathroom. There are some lovely golden plagues on the outside of the door that make me chuckle and inside there is a lovely sign (at least in the women's bathroom) that says this: "If you tinkle you sprinkle. Please clean up after yourself for the next customer. Thank You! - Management"

Since I am on the topic of tinkling, I think I ought to share another favorite place from Clarksville. Clarksville is home to Austin Peay State University (Tennessee's fastest growing college!). I found the pronunciation of "Peay" quite humorous as we drove through the campus and I read the numerous banners that declared "Let's go Peay!"

Anyway... I spent about two hours in Clarksville before ending in Athens, GA for the night. I stayed with Natalia, another friend from Eagle Lake. We didn't have much time to do anything since she had class bright and early Thursday morning but it was good to catch up with her on Wednesday night. I arrived in Windermere, FL at about 5:30pm on Thursday.

Opening My Hands

2009-01-28T22:12:00.003-05:00

Recently a verse has been running through my mind but I didn't stop to look it up until I ran across the reference in my BSF notes this morning. Luke 12:48 says this: "... the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."

I have been given much. I do not make this statement to take pride in any accomplishments, rather to acknowledge the opportunities and experiences I have been allowed to have. As a result of the country and family I was born into, the people who have pointed and are pointing me to Jesus Christ, the discipline that was given to me, the ethics and morals that have been instilled in me, the education I have received and am receiving, the guidance, conviction and encouragement of the Holy Spirit, the accessibility to the Word of God, the prayer support of consistent and loving grandparents, the financial provision of parents who supply for my needs and then continue to give abundantly, the excellent biblical teaching I have received and am receiving, and so much more has made me into a far from perfect but nonetheless faithful follower of God and a healthy, capable, responsible individual.

In my 22 years of life, I have had it pretty easy. I have never been in want of food, shelter or clothing, never had to fear abusive parents or watch them waste their life away on alcohol, never had to experience the pain of my parents getting a divorce or the loss of an immediate family member. It is often easy for me to kick back in my suburban home and eat from the abundance in our kitchen, sleep the hours away in a cozy bed, bask in the comfort of a warm house and hot showers, entertain myself from a wealth of books, access to any genre of music, the internet, Cable TV and multiple movies and forget about the atrocious suffering that many in my city, country and world are experiencing during my oblivious moments.

I have been given much and much will be demanded of me. In I Peter 2:9 I find what is demanded of me: "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." I am a chosen, royal, holy child of God. He beckons me to dedicate myself to Him and open my hands that He may fill them with His work.

I am opening my hands and looking to God to fill them. Please pray with me that God will give me the courage to only do the work He places in them.

Discovering Wonders At The IHS

2009-01-26T22:54:00.008-05:00

Last week Nealy got her second tour of Indianapolis. Here was her itinerary:

Stop #1: Boyden's Bakery

Stop #2: City Cafe

Stop #3: Indiana Historical Society

Stop #4: The Flying Cupcake

Stop #5: Rocky Ripple, IN

Stop #6: Global Gifts

Stop #7: Downtown Antique Mall

Stop #8: Southport Antique Mall

Stop #9: Yollie's Oriental Market

You should already know of the wonders that Boyden's has to offer so I will skip that to highlight a few of our other destinations. In the last few months I have been driving by the Indiana Historical Society on West and Ohio thinking of how I need to stop and see what it has to offer. Before doing so last week, I took a visit to their website. I discovered that it has historical exhibits, a library and a bookstore.

During my research of this historical wonderland I was really beginning to anticipate a visit. But upon our entrance, we received some disappointing news - except for the library, the building was closed due to remodeling. However, this turned out to be a good thing as we spent over an hour reading quotes on the lobby floor and exploring the library.

Here is a quote from The Indiana Book of Trivia by Fred Cavinder describing Indiana's 1907 solution to stopping stupid people from running rampant: "About 120 sterilizations were performed in Indiana under a 1907 law that permitted the procedure to curb reproduction by criminals, idiots, rapists and imbeciles. A sterilization victim's lawsuit overturned the law."

As chuckles escape your mouth, a question may be tickling your brain. "What classifies an idiot or an imbecile?" The American Heritage Dictionary gives these definitions:

Idiot - n. 1. A foolish or stupid person. 2. A person of profound mental retardation having a mental age below three years and generally being unable to learn connected speech or guard against common dangers. The term belongs to a classification system no longer in use and is now considered offensive.

Imbecile - n. 1. A stupid or silly person; a dolt. 2. A person whose mental acumen is well below par. 3. A person of moderate to severe mental retardation having a mental age of from three to seven years and generally being capable of some degree of communication and performance of simple tasks under supervision. The term belongs to a classification system no longer in use and is now considered offensive.

Geek Alerts Is Back, With Some Tofu

2009-01-18T21:05:00.006-05:00

I just found this amusing curio on my beloved Geek Alerts site which I thought had been shut down as of January 12, 2009. Apparently, they changed their minds. For this I am sure we can all be thankful after watching such a blithe, waggish movie clip.

To find out more about the MIT designed Tofu you can visit this site.

Thoughts From The Dome

2009-01-17T18:24:00.011-05:00

Numerous thoughts have been running through this dome of mine in the last couple of days. I'm hoping I can get them to march into this text in some semblance of order for you all to understand.

Right before getting on-line to start typing this post I was reading World Aflame by Billy Graham. I am only on the thirty-first page and so far have gleaned a tremendous amount of insight from this book. The last section I read was entitled Leisure. Most often leisure is talked of in pleasant terms but the intent of this two-page talk on leisure was to warn of its dangers.

Billy Graham has pointed out that modern American life with its many technological advances has produced an abundance of leisure time. "With more leisure and less responsibility, the problem of 'what to do' assumes major proportions... The rapid growth of leisure could produce more crime... We see this potential of crime already among us in the vandalism of unoccupied youth. We see it in the cocktail lounges where the bored and restless while away the tedious hours of leisure. We see it in the nightclubs where jaded and frustrated businessmen watch sensual performers go through their frenzied routines, leaving their audiences empty, frustrated, and satiated. All of us have read stories of the boredom suffered at the average cocktail party. I have had more than one wealthy person tell me: 'If I have to go to one more cocktail party, I'll blow my brains out.'"

To help prove his point that too much leisure can be undesirable, Billy Graham uses this quote from Shakespeare: "If all the years were playing holidays, to sport would be as tedious as to work."

The topic of leisure is of particular interest to myself at this point in my life because it is something that I will have in an exceeding amount for the next couple of months. As many of you know, I am taking a semester off from school because I couldn't get into the classes I needed. What a fitting time to read of the dangers of too much leisure!

You may now wonder what I plan to do with my months of leisure. Assuming that you do care, I will explain my plans, but I warn you they may get overwhelming. Well maybe not to you but in my mind they can sometimes be a bit overwhelming due to me constantly thinking of various options and numerous variations to each option all the while trying to take each plan to the Lord.

Sometime during the holiday season I began compiling a list that I dubbed "Things I want to do with my 'free time'". The list includes things that absolutely need to be done such as applying for and securing an internship for this summer as well as things that I have long wanted to do but have not yet done due to of a lack of time or pure laziness. Unfortunately, I lost my original list and some items have slipped my memory but here is my attempt to patch the list back together:

Learn to play the harmonica
Read Dead Women Walking
Go to Florida
Go to Cincinnati and visit Jungle Jim's and Graeter's
Create fabric
Experiment with Photoshop
Experiment with InDesign
Experiment with Illustrator
Set up an Etsy seller account
Finish my Italy scrapbook
Make Coca-Cola table
Create an identity for Phenomenal Women
Polish up portfolio
Secure an internship for the summer
Make salmagundi
Ride the Indy Go
Go to as many BSF seminars as possible
Visit as many historical sites as possible (primarily in Indiana)

There you have my patched up list. I know there are many more worthy items on my original list and it is frustrating me that I cannot find it. Nonetheless, I have plenty of things to do with my months of leisure. However, in the past couple of weeks I have noticed myself developing a lackadaisical attitude. I have placed no demands on my schedule and I have to admit that I have enjoyed too much sleep, TV, browsing the internet, running pointless errands, etc.

I have a few ideas of how I can correct this behavior but since this post has possibly put some of you to sleep already, I'll save those ideas and hopefully an optimistic progress report for another time.

My New Favorite Place!

2009-01-14T13:46:00.007-05:00

On Christmas day Courtney received a card stating that she was the recipient of a personalized, expense-covered tour of Indianapolis with myself as her tour guide. She probably didn't realize what a treasure she had received until she actually went on her tour this past Saturday. Here is a little rundown of her personalized tour:

Stop #1: The Bean Cup

Stop #2: Boyden's Bakery

Stop #3: Hendricks Park

Stop #4: Henry's On East

Stop #5: Taylor's Bakery

Stop #6: Flowing Well Park

Stop #7: Indiana Medical History Museum

Although each destination, minus Taylor's, was a success, the one that left the greatest impact on my life was

Boyden's Bakery. It's a small little shop connected to an Italian restaurant off of Meridian and Hanna. This establishment has been there since 1932 which means that it has been there the whole time I have lived in Indy! I am ashamed of the fact that I had not entered its doors until this past Saturday. I have driven past this bakery too many times to count as it is now on my way to church and can be on

my way to school.

Courtney and I began to make our amends to the bakery by returning the very next day on our way to church. I am seriously considering stopping in every Sunday to pick up a honey bar or two. The beautiful thing is they are only $. 39! Mmm, I cannot get over these things.

I'd Rather Be In Smocktown!

2009-01-11T00:04:00.002-05:00

I have always been content living on the north side of County Line Road. In fact, I have preferred the fact that I have lived on the north side of County Line for the past ten years. The simple fact of living on the north side of County Line means that I am a citizen of Indianapolis, not Greenwood. For the first time, I had the desire to live on the south side of County Line - 185 years ago. You see, if I would have lived on the opposite side of the road at that time I would not have lived in Indianapolis but I also wouldn't have lived in Greenwood. I would have lived in Smocktown! Smocktown was the original name of Greenwood. Smocktown underwent a name change in 1825 before eventually becoming Greenwood in 1833. You can go to this website to find out the name between Smocktown and Greenwood as well as more history on Smocktown and other Indianapolis suburbs and neighborhoods.

A Bit More Info And An Update

2009-01-09T19:53:00.003-05:00

Grandma and Grandpa are up in Madison with Wendy and Grandma sent me this information and update today:

There were some points protruding from her spinal column touching her brain causing the spinal fluid not to flow as it should therefore giving headaches, etc. The Dr. had said that there wasn't enough room for her brain before this surgery. The Dr. went in and removed those jagged points and then took off the covering over her brain, took skin from her neck and made a new covering that was bigger therefore giving her brain more room. She has an incision about 3-4 inches down the back of her neck with most of it going up into her hair line. They had to shave about 1 1/2 by 5 or so of her hair. It is bandaged right now and her neck is very sore. She is still in ICU hoping to get to a room sometime today.

Pray For Wendy

2009-01-08T00:09:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow morning, or this morning rather, Mom's cousin Wendy is having surgery. I'm not any where near as informed as I should be on the surgery to be making this post but I felt the need to put out a request and a reminder for you to lift Wendy up in prayer as she goes into her surgery, is in surgery and comes out of surgery. It is my prayer that she will feel an overwhelming sense of God's presence and His peace as she goes into her surgery.

Wendy headed up to Madison, Wisconsin today and the surgery will be on Thursday morning. She is having surgery on her head and although I can't remember any technical names, I know it is pretty major. She suffers from daily migraines and I cannot imagine how much she must be longing for relief from that. The doctors are hoping that she will be able to go back home after four days.

If anyone knows more information about the surgery, please share and make up for my lack of knowledge! Otherwise just pray for peace and God's work to be accomplished which hopefully includes a successful surgery and relief from the pain Wendy has been experiencing.

A Belated New Year's Resolution

2009-01-06T20:50:00.001-05:00

I realize my lack of posts is pretty pathetic seeing as I haven't even had my blog for more than three months. In an effort to correct this fluky posting routine I have decided on a New Year's resolution to galvanize my blogging effort. Here it is: My aspiration, not promise, is to write a minimum of two posts a week, with at least one having some meaningful and perhaps beneficial content in it.

To your right is an updated photo of my Buzzy tree. As you can see from my previous post, I planted Buzzy on December 28, 2008. It turns out that my Success Soil does quite miraculous work, I saw this rapid growth mere hours after sinking the seeds into the unparalleled richness of my Success Soil!

All I ever wanted - a Buzzy Tree for Christmas!

2008-12-28T18:09:00.000-05:00

This is my Buzzy Christmas tree that Courto gave me for Christmas. I'm pretty much tinkled pink about it. What is now a luscious mound of rich brown soil started out as a bantam, crusty dirt pellet. After adding some water to my Success Soil pellet I got to watch it evolve into successful, luscious soil you see here. It kind of looked like diarrhea as it was evolving but it was exciting none the less. I'm not sure how big this thing is supposed to get but my instructions are telling me I need to transplant it once it gets 3" tall. Assuming I give this tree the TLC it needs, I will have to show you what it looks like once it reaches full maturity. And I'll probably throw in some update reports and progress snaps.

I bought a "Quotationary" with some of my gift money and was pleasantly surprised to find a healthy supply of quotes on trees. Here's a Greek saying for you to ponder: "A civilization flourishes when people plant trees under whose shade they will never sit."

Geek Alerts to the Rescue!

2008-12-19T10:35:00.000-05:00

I was beginning to wonder what happened to my supporters because it had been awhile since anyone left a comment, and then I realized that you guys had left comments and I was neglecting to publish them! Sorry about that, I just switched my commenting settings.

As many of you know I had ear surgery yesterday morning. I didn't do too much besides sleep, take a few steps, feel like I was going to pass out, admire my new fashion head gear, drink a delicious milkshake Mom made for me and browse through my new favorite website: geekalerts.com. Here are a few pictures of some of my favorite items. It was hard to pick which ones I liked best because there are so many great things on Geek Alerts. I highly recommend a visit for there for each and every one of you. top right: Kim Clock, bottom left: Pirate USB hub, bottom middle: sweet Casio watches, bottom right: Retro TV alarm clock.

Thatssnot funny!

2008-12-13T02:02:00.001-05:00

Rosie, I want to start off by dedicating this post to you.

I called you tonight on my way home from babysitting hoping you would answer and ask me how I was doing. But since you didn't, I would like to help you imagine doing so right now. You: "Greetings, Nicole! How are you this fine evening?" Me: "Yes! I was hoping you would ask me! I am doing well, except for this runny nose that is driving the snot out of me!"

A Joke From Jack

2008-12-13T01:41:00.000-05:00

Mom inspired me in her comment on the word "crackerjack" in my previous post to share with all of you a Crackerjacks joke. This particular series is a souvenir from my recent summer in Colorado as a camp counselor. One week we had all diabetic kids and we got snacks all throughout the day which was wonderful! Then at the end of the week we got to raid all of the food that the American Diabetes Association left behind which was also wonderful! I scrounged up a decent amount of Crackerjack bags and thoroughly enjoyed my entertaining surprises within them. I hope you do as well.

Top-drawer, Adroit Crackerjacks

2008-12-10T16:32:00.000-05:00

I really shouldn't be using my time to publish a post right now but I decided to make it a reward for figuring out the topic of one of my final projects so I'm going to do it anyway.

I thought I would share a few of my new favorite words with you. As I was searching thesaurus.com (which happens to be one of my favorite sites and also the place that helped me come up with my name) I came across these words: crackerjack, adroit and top drawer. Here are your definitions:

crackerjack -noun 1. a person or thing that shows marked ability or excellence.

adroit -adjective 1. expert or nimble in the use of the hands or body. 2. cleverly skillful, resourceful, or ingenious; an adroit debater.

top drawer -noun 1. a person or thing that shows marked ability or excellence.

A Word From Daisy

2008-12-02T21:00:00.000-05:00

Thank you, Daisy sour cream for such thought provoking quotes!

Salmagundi And A Pun

2008-12-01T21:29:00.000-05:00

Here is a 17th century recipe of salmagundi from The Good Huswives Treasure:

"Cut cold roast chicken or other meats into slices. Mix with minced tarragon and an onion. Mix al together with capers, olives, samphire, broombuds, mushrooms, oysters, lemon, orange, raisins, almonds, blue figs, Virginia potatoes, peas and red and white currants. Garnish with sliced oranges and lemons. Cover with oil and vinegar, beaten together."

One of these days I plan to make this concoction and put a picture of it up for your viewing pleasure. And if you get an itching to try some, you can come on over and we'll make it together! I'm still trying to figure out what broombuds are so if anyone knows, please share your wealth of knowledge with me!

And now a little pun to liven up your day:

You might describe a cow that has just given birth to an offspring as de-calf-inated!

"Dreams Are Tawdry"

2008-11-24T23:02:00.000-05:00

I have always loved to read. When I was younger some of my favorite books were The Salem Years, The Trailblazer Series, The American Girl books and the Dear America Series. Now I like to collect oddball books at antique and thrift stores and lately I have taken a great interest in reading Christian biographies.

A month or so ago I finished Shadow of The Almighty by Elisabeth Elliot. This book is absolutely amazing! Many of you already know some of the changes that have taken place in my life because of reading this book. However you may not have the quotes I referenced! If you already know what I've changed and you already have the quotes, I'm sorry, you can just stop reading now and go do something more enjoyable with your life. But for those of you who don't know and are wishing I would get on with it, here is a little tale of how my life changed...

Once upon a time I was taking a trip out to Iowa and as I was riding along in the back seat I pulled out a folder entitled "What to do with my life..." as well as my journal, Bible study, Bible and copy of Shadow of The Almighty. I had a piece of paper in my folder that had a schedule of my most desired life plan for Spring 2009-Spring 2010. Next semester I wanted to live in Florida with Mark and Rosie while doing my internship. In the summer I thought it would be great to go to the Middle East for a couple months while attending Jerusalem University College. Upon arriving back in the States at the end of the summer I would prepare to go to Focus on the Family Institute for the fall semester. Then finally I would come back to Indiana and finish up my degree at Ivy Tech. As I was looking at these plans, I really began to be convicted about them. The conviction did not hit so much on my plans as it did on the core of who I felt I was becoming.

As many of you know, two years ago I spent a semester in Italy and while there got to go to England, Scotland and Ireland as well. Two summers ago, I spent a month in Malawi, Africa. I've also traveled a lot in the U.S. and this summer I spent about three months working at a camp in Colorado. I have thoroughly enjoyed my travels and the cultures I've been able to experience. While good has come from these travels, I found that I was beginning to have an unhealthy craving for them. I began surrendering these dreams and desires up to God in prayer.

After time in prayer, Bible study and journaling, I opened Shadow of The Almighty. The title of the chapter I was on was "Dreams are Tawdry". I could not believe how fitting it was for my current situation! Here is the quote that gave the chapter its title; "Dreams are tawdry when compared with the leading of God, and not worthy of the aura of wonder we usually surround them with. God only doeth wonders. He does nothing else. His hand can work nothing less. Praise to the Guiding God of Israel, and that Great Shepherd of the wayward sheep. When He directs a path, no way can seem bleak, no instance dull." Jim Elliot

This chapter has helped me re-surrender my dreams and plans into God's hands and I have no desire to try and reclaim them! I am learning that life truly is more exciting and adventurous when I let go of my plans and let God do the planning. I'm merely the created being, who am I to think that I can dream and plan better than my Creator?

My First Post!

2008-11-23T19:31:00.000-05:00

Let's see here, what to write... I have been chomping at the bit to get this blog started and now that I have it, I don't know what to write. Darn. I suppose I could start off explaining why I have even created this blog.

The thought of having a blog has run in and out of my mind a couple of times in the last couple of years, thanks to Nealy suggesting it and thereby starting the chase. When she mentioned it, I thought it sounded interesting but wondered what the heck I would write about. Something that just recently got the blog idea running at a frantic pace in my mind was a point that was made in my Bible study on the life of Moses.

In Exodus 18: 7-12 Moses shared with Jethro, his father-in-law all the things that God had done for the Israelites in leading them out of Egypt. Moses' testimony quite likely led Jethro to a saving knowledge and belief in God. We talked about how important it is as Christians to give testimony not only to how God brought us into a relationship with Him but also to what He is doing in our lives now that we are in a relationship with Him.

If I am truly in a relationship with this great God of the Universe, I'd better have some stories to tell about the adventures I have with Him. I thought a blog would be a great way to share these stories with those I care about but don't get to see or talk to very often.

As you can see, the major inspiration behind this blog is to share what God is doing in my life. My testimonies will take up a great deal of the subject matter but I'm still leaving room to share the useless random oddities of life that give me so much enjoyment.

I think Courtney will especially appreciate my blog because she will be able to tune me out or just shut me off without me grousing at her when she gets tired of my ramblings. You're welcome in advance, Courtney!

Now that you have a brief history of why this blog was created, get zipped up for some excitement!