New Blog for Spirituality

So, a lot of times I discuss religious aspects of life on this blog.

Well, I'd like to invite those of you who are interested to check out a new blog that I will be contributing to, along with my best friend Whitney, dealing with life issues and spirituality. The blog will focus mainly on Christian principals, but we hope that we can have a discussion that is open to all peoples, no matter if they are a practicing Christian or not. So, please take a look at our new blog and share with your friends. It is geared more toward women in their 20s and 30s, but anyone is invited to join in on the discussion!

Here is the link: http://zoeandsofya.blogspot.com/

The blog is called Zoe & Sofya which means Life & Wisdom in Greek. We hope to provide wisdom for today's life issues in a loving and caring manner!

Check it out and please take a moment to comment on our first post (there are even discussion questions to get you started)!

The joys of Internet (at home!)

Well, the battle has been fought, and we came out victorious! Yes, there is high-speed broadband internet at the casa de Downey!

It was a long and difficult process, that literally took months of my time, but last night at 7 p.m., we were able to actual access the internet from way out in the country of St. Cloud manor!

I don't even feel like going into all the annoying details (especially the part about having a Comcast tech at my home until nearly 1 in the morning) but, it's over with now and last night I was able to sit down and actually do my homework without having to go to the library for hours (St. Cloud library is really nice though, and has this great little study room!) I wrote all the papers that I have due for the next few weeks because I was able to actually do the research I needed. It was so refreshing!

Of course, Martin was ecstatic because he could finally update the Wii and download songs onto the Guitar Hero game, so that was exciting too. It seems to be really good service, I checked out You Tube and Netflix and both ran very smoothly.

So, finally I can start blogging again and really get back into updating.

I do want to blog more about Kelly's wedding but that will have to wait until later, I need to get ready for class!

Kelly's Wedding

Here are a few slideshows. There will be more info about the wedding to come. It was absolutely beautiful and we had a great time ... I also got really dolled up and it was a great place for Martin to take some portraits of me ... more on all this later (including airbrush makeup). I haven't had time to format all photos, but you get the point! Also to see them better, click on the slide show :)

Enjoy!

When Jesus Turns Our World Upside Down

*This is a sermon that was preached at FUMC-Kissimmee on March 15, 2009. This was the rough draft.*

Scripture Reading I: Exodus 20:1-17

The Ten Commandments

20Then God spoke all these words:

2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. ³

4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.⁵⁶

7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. For six days you shall labour and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it. ⁹¹⁰¹¹

12 Honour your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

13 You shall not murder.^*

14 You shall not commit adultery.

15 You shall not steal.

16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

17 You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.

Scripture Reading II: John 2:13-22

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

13 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money-changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, ‘Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a market-place!’ His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’ The Jews then said to him, ‘What sign can you show us for doing this?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews then said, ‘This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?’ But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. ^{141516171819202122}

Sermon:

When I was in high sch ool back in Arkansas there was this great little place that some of my friends and I used to visit, we referred to it as "The Rock." In the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains is Lake Degray, and out on that lake, is a few little "cliffs." I say little cliffs because they aren't very high, but they are just high enough that if you find the right one, say one like "The Rock," then you can dive right off into the lake below. I loved going to the Rock, but getting there was never easy. It was located out in the woods pretty far back,

and there really wasn't a set path to it. I knew where the rock was, and I knew where the road to get back was, so I thought. One day at the Rock we realized we had forgotten to pick up stuff to have a bar-b-que, since I knew the way back to the car I offered to head back with a friend to go get the cook-out stuff. We began walking towards the car ... it was about 45 minutes later that we realized we had made a wrong turn.

Even though I knew the way perfectly, somehow I had gotten lost. I tell you this story because I think that sometimes when we read the scripture that was read today in John, we want to think that the temple sellers were bad people, I want to share with you today, that I think just to opposite, I think they were good people, who THOUGHT they knew the right way, but soon realized that in fact, they had been taking the wrong path all along. It started with "The Law."

Can you remember the first time you heard the ten commandments? Probably when you were a small child, probably about the time when you told your first lie, someone in you family might have said to you, "God doesn't like it when we lie," or "God says it's a no-no to take things that don't belong to us." The Law was given to us at a early age, and it was given to the Jewish people during Jesus' time at an early age as well, but it wasn't just the ten commandments that was read today that was given to the Jewish people to follow it was those plus the 603 or so other laws that you can find in Leviticus and Numbers. The people of the time KNEW the law, and they did everything they could to follow it to the best of their ability. That's the background that we have coming into Jesus' visit to the temple. People were simply following the law, in fact law number 482 under sacrifices, "To offer a sacrifice of varying value in accordance with one's means (Lev. 5:7), so when Jesus came in and started throwing tables around and demanding the people out who sold these sacrifices, you can imagine the people were outraged, in fact you could say that at that moment, Jesus had just turned their world upside down with every table he turned over!

What we would like to say as Christians, who know who Jesus was and is, is that the people got what they deserved, they should have realized that they were going down the wrong path, but hey, don't judge them, they've been following this path all their lives, how could they have known that they were going the wrong way. Maybe, the same way we often don't realize when we are going the wrong way today?

You see, going back to experience at the Rock, it wasn't that I didn't know the way, it's that I got distracted. I was talking to my friend, we were just going along just find, never noticing that maybe the path had shifted, we didn't forget the way, the way was always there, we ignored it. That's where we find the good people of the temple, the path didn't change, but there were so many laws, so many observances, that focusing on the path became less of the idea and focusing on the laws became more important. They stopped focusing on God and began to focus on "being Religious." When Jesus turned over the tables, he wasn't stating that these were bad people, he was just calling to their attention that the right path was in front of them and they were headed in the wrong direction.

How many times has that happened in our lives, when we stopped focusing on what's important? When did you start following the path toward salvation, was it when you were little and someone spoke to you the first of the ten commandments, was it an epiphany moment where you knew salvation was at hand, where did you go after that ... when was the last time Jesus turned your life upside down?

As some of you may know, I started seminary this Spring at Asbury , and man is it fun! I am learning so much about the Methodist church and the path that those of us who are Methodist have taken to become Methodists. My favorite class is John Wesley's Theology for Today. John Wesley, is of course, the Anglican Church leader who decided that the church he attended path was becoming a bit too legalistic and began to explore other options, in that exploration the Methodist Way began. I like how he looks at our paths in his order of salvation. According to Wesley, salvation from original sin begins with justification, continues in sanctification and ends with glorification or in layman's terms or how some theologians today like to refer to it, awaking, attaching, advancing and assuring. I think that the journey when we encounter Jesus is in that awaking moment.

When was your awaking? Was it on that path when you were first told the Ten Commandments? Think about that ... look at this chart and try to imagine where each one has or will happen for your life. Now, here is the kicker, John Wesley didn't believe that this was a step-by-step process, in fact, he believed that you could walk down the path many many times. God desires us to be aware of him OVER and OVER again — the journey continues. Often times it continues with Jesus turning our world upside down. Here are some good examples, last week Pastor Scott preached on Nicodemas, a Pharisee, his awareness came when he learned the Jewish law, and he became aware again when he asked Jesus how we must be born again, Paul, another great Jewish leader, was very aware of God, was following the path, and then BAM! Jesus appears on the road to Damascus and turns his world UPSIDE DOWN ... want some more modern examples, CS Lewis, didn't believe in God, found religion to be too full of laws and rules, until he had an encounter with Jesus and was "Surprised by Joy." These are all good examples of people who have had their lives turned upside down by Christ, and continued to let him do so.

Often times, we find ourselves on our own path. We think we have been going the right way all along, until something happens, if like me, you notice the trees don't look the same, or like Paul, you have lost your vision completely, or like John Wesley, you find that the denomination you have loved all your life has become too ritualistic, you might be having an encounter with God. Becoming aware again of who you are, looking down the path and examining, is this where God wants me to be, have I been focusing on him, or have I just been following the way, because that's the way I've always gone. Where have you already encountered Jesus and you missed it because you were taking your own path, was it in the homeless woman that you met at the grocery store who was buying food for her kids, and you were in a hurry and only noticed that it was taken her WAY too long to count out the change, did you meet Jesus on your path when your boss came to you visibly upset and you didn't bother to ask what's wrong because you were too worried about all the things YOU had to get done that day? What about when that small child looked at you and asked you to play outside, and you said, no, did you miss Jesus simply because you didn't bother to look?

Don't stop looking for God at the first awareness, don't forget to become aware again after you have found sanctification, but instead, keep pushing forward. Open your eyes to the road around you, REALLY listen to the people you meet along the way, take a moment to smile, enjoy the scenery and make sure that you are on the path that is focused on Christ, and not on anything else. And, if you find that the path has shifted, and you have you lost your way to "The Rock,," remember the words of Jesus in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth and the life." The pathway is there, we simply must open our eyes, look for the signs, and let Jesus turn our world upside down once again.

Let's pray: Thank you gracious and holy God for your son Jesus Christ. Thank you that you have given us his examples and his words to follow as we walk down the paths of life. Lift our eyes up to you and give each one of us the assurance that you want us to become aware of you again, and again, and again. Amen.

The Dog Did It!

My Dog ate my internet. Allow me to explain. The last few weeks have been SO busy, I feel like I have gone non-stop through the month of February and I can't believe that it's already the middle of March, so many things have been going on that I can't remember the last time I slowed down. However, that's honestly, how I like it. I enjoy being overbooked, I find it to be one of the major challenges in life and if you can do 500 things at once, I think it's really a God-given gift to do so.

Usually, I have no problem overbooking myself, until the dog ate the internet. Yes, I was busy, so when I got up Thursday morning at 6 a.m. to do my homework and finished it at 8 a.m.to rush to get ready and drive off to class, I didn't think about the small connector that usually is plugged into my computer that had fallen onto the floor (or laid out on the table). I must have missed it, I am usually really good at putting things away, but this time, it didn't happen that way. I went to class, and then came home to find my nice little USB Connector, chewed to pieces, not only that, but Sawyer (the pup) seemed so happy to have me home, that I couldn't very well punish him when he's so cute and sweet, and really he didn't know what he'd done wrong.

What he did, was have me in a fit! I called AT&T first, to find out how much it would be to replace it, right away they reminded me that I didn't bother to buy insurance on the precious port and it would be $300 to replace it. I promptly hung up with them since I already knew it would only cost $125 to cancel the service. I then called my old friends at Comcast, now what most of you probably don't know, is that because we live in a cul de sac in St. Cloud, this apparently means that we are not allowed to have internet service (because they are too lazy to lay down our lines). However, Comcast has sworn to me that they can and will get us internet, so I called them to see if it was available yet.

They first scheduled me for an appointment for Friday from 4-7, so I went to work, ran some errands and was back at the house by 4 p.m. ... 7 came and went and they were a no show. I called and they had conveniently moved my appointment without telling me to Saturday from 10-12 ... I was at work, but checked in with Martin and found that at noon they still had not come. I called and they had rescheduled for 11-2 p.m. According to Martin someone from Comcast showed up around 2:30 to "look" at our lines. Come to find out, Comcast had done some work toward getting us internet, but they needed to have tech come out and look at the wiring. We were told to expect the tech before 5 p.m. The tech showed up at 4:30 to tell us that actually, a contractor would need to come out and have a look. So now, it's Thursday and there has been no word from Comcast. I called Tuesday morning just to get an update, and of course there was no record of ANYONE coming out to talk to me and alas, my service has been discontinued. SO, some customer service woman told me she would have the contractor supervisor call me back ... yeah, we all know that's happened.

So, if the blog updates are less frequent don't blame me ... blame the Dog!

Work/Life/School/Church/Facebook Balance

I logged into Facebook tonight. Not because I wanted to social network, but because I wanted to disconnect my blog from my account. I decided that updating my account through blogger was still a form of social communication, and so I decided I needed to fix the problem. However, I was very good, I logged in, went straight to my import options and disconnected my feed. I did not read one person's status or check my messages or see what sort of notifications I had. I wonder at what point Facebook stops notifying you or your notifications, because I have a feeling that number is going to get very high.

In all honesty it hasn't been that hard to give up the social networking, I have been so busy with work and school that I would barely have time to log on anyway. I didn't get home from work tonight until nearly 9:30 and this has been my routine for the past few days. I have been having some trouble sleeping too at night, so I've been using that time to catch up on work stuff (mostly e-mails at 1 in the morning, sorry guys with the blackberrys :). It hasn't been that difficult to manage my time, but I do know where my priorities lie, and it's not really with school.

School is getting the back burner of my time, and I'm okay with that. I recently had to write a paper for my church history course, I didn't give it as much time as I had wanted, and if I had been grading myself, I would have given myself a C. It was a C paper for me, I knew it, but it was really all I could give it. I got my grade and feedback today, not only did I make an A, but I made an actual 100%, I don't know that I even made a 100% on anything I did in my first Masters, so great job Henderson State for preparing me to write papers that would get a C in Truth, Order and Beauty that gets an A everywhere else! I guess I was more prepared than I thought. However, a test is coming up in there, and I haven't read half of the materials to take it, but we get to use our notes so I will be making myself a nice study guide before I open that test! So, I think I'm going to be okay with school. I do know that next semester if I take this many hours I will do it all from online. Going to class takes a big toll on my time (especially away from work). I have a great and understanding office, but I don't like getting in the office so late. I think that I will try to only take one class on campus per semester.

However, I do love the classes that I am in. John Wesley's Theology for Today is a great class and I am learning so much! When I am in class I really feel like I am where I'm supposed to be, I understand John Wesley, I see what he sees, I am a Methodist to the core. The thing I love about John Wesley is that when his Bishop asked him to find a church and "settle down," which basically meant, stop stepping on other people's perishes, John Wesely responded, "The World is my Parish." This is so what I am about. It's not that I don't want to itinerate (be moved from one church to another) but that I believe that my work belongs outside of the church, that the world truley is my parish. Class has already helped me better define my call, so I am looking forward to my next Ordained Ministry review because I am really starting to articulate better why I want to be a Deacon working in the World.

My other class that meets weekly is Worship Leadership. I really enjoy this class, but I didn't think I would. I really disliked worship planning when I was working for the church. I was always so stressed that things weren't perfect and that some stupid mistake that I had made, hindered someone else's worship. There was a lot of pressure for worship to go smoothly and sometimes I think I put more pressure on myself than was nescessary. I thought this would come out in Worship Leadership. But, really I am learning more about why we do the things we do in worship, why we pray what we pray, why we gather the way we do. It's really fasicnating stuff that dates back to when God called the people to worship him outside of Mt. Siani.

Work is going really well, but we are down two in the office (Yay for babies!). We have been working on a strong intiative to have a volunteer base, and we did our first training tonight. I had planned the training to last 45 minutes, it was 2 hours. Basically because the volunteers wanted to ask questions and share ideas, and they were so excited that I didn't mind that it was nearly 9 when I left the office. It was good seeing people in the community reaching out and being willing to help those who are in need! I think this is going to be really exciting and I can't wait to see what great things we are going to do! We also have some really great events coming up that I plan to spend most of the week working on. I basically took my google calandar and scheduled me time for just about every thing that needs to be done. I've followed it pretty well, but I think I should schedule myself naps so I don't feel guilty taking one when I was going to read Church History (which at times gets so boring that IT puts me to sleep! : )

I suppose that's it for now, just an update on my goal to "perfect work/life balance." So far, so good.

As a pastor I heard recently say as his benediction and I LOVED IT ... PEACE OUT!

What I'm gaining ... not giving up!

"Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry." (Matthew Chapter 4:1-3)

For the past seven years I have observed the 40 days before Easter as a time of sacrifice in my life. In the Christian liturgical year this time is referred to as Lent. Growing up in the Baptist church, we were never really acquainted with the Lenten period, so it wasn't until I began going to the Methodist Church, and eventually becoming a Methodist that I realized how important this season of the Christian year is.

Many people think that Lent is strictly about "giving something up," but in all reality it is actually about what we gain. It is not simply making a sacrifice, but taking the time that would normally be dedicated to the sacrificed action to be a time of prayer and reflection on the blessings you do have in life. Sometimes, when I have observed Lent, I have not done this part, simply because I did not understand that it was required of me, or because I was not spiritually disciplined enough to do so. I have "given up" several things for Lent— beef and eating out at restaurants to name a few, but I have never scheduled a Lent celebration in a way that I could actually use my sacrificed time to dedicate to God in a tangible way.

So, this year, I have decided to forgo social networking. Beginning today, I will no longer frequent Facebook or Myspace (and I just realized Twitter, so much for updates from my pregnant friends!). I really struggled if to include blogger in this as well, but decided that it was necessary because 1. I can use it as a way to communicate WHY I am dedicating myself to this task, 2. We keep a blogger account for my company and it is part of my job to update it and I didn't want to make things difficult there and 3. My blogger is connected to my facebook account, so my facebook friends can at least be notified through my blogger posts that I am alive and well. : )

However, I will not be simply "giving up" social networking, I will be replacing it. I have decided that every time I am bored and want to check out what folks are doing, I will use this time on the net to read Christian resources, I will visit Bible Gateway, The Christian Century, or Christianity Today or maybe I'll do some studies on other religions and take a tour of beliefnet, but overall I will trade my social networking time and instead make it focused on God. I also encourage my friends and family on facebook and myspace to call me. I will not be answering your messages on my wall or little notes, and I still want to know what's happening in your life. As one of my Facebook friends put it, "The real world is better anyway," and I agree, I would much rather talk to you than a one-liner on a social networking site!

When Jesus was in the desert, he was hungry, and I know there will be times when I simply want to "check" my account. Be it to see how many apps I have been nominated for, or if I have any Friend Requests, but I won't. Lent is not about what I am giving up ... it's what I am gaining — a sense of peace, a more intimate way to communicate with friends, and finally a closer relationship with the one who gave himself up — the least I can do is return a small part of the favor.

Tonight is the Ash Wednesday service at most Methodist and Catholic Churches, and I will be attending. Once the ash cross makes its way onto my brow the season begins and it's Peace out Facebook, Twitter and Myspace — See you on Easter!

My Writing

I have decided that my blog doesn't exactly demonstrate my great writing skills. Yes, I have okay things to say, but I have some really good stuff out there that most of you haven't read and I'd like to share it with you. So for the next few blogs, I will post past articles I have written for my freelance job with the Florida United Methodist Annual Conference E-Review. I will also post future articles here as well.

This will give you a chance to critique my writing style and give me advice on what I could be doing better as a writer. Through just the blog, not so much ...

But, don't worry! There will still be lots of fun updates on life on here as well, I just want a chance to share some of my "professional" work.

Also, I would love for you all to see what I've been doing with graphic design, you can look at my work on my online portfolio.

Puppies & Babies

My Poor Puppy
We had a pretty scary weekend at the Downey household. As most of you know we got Sawyer about a year ago, Mom got him for us for Christmas. Since we don't have kids yet, Sawyer gets a lot of our attention and most of the time he is a pretty good dog (he has a few issues, eating toilet tissue, nipping our legs when he wants to play). So, we knew something was up with him when he got up on Saturday morning and didn't want to play. At about 4 a.m. Saturday morning he asked to go outside, I didn't think much about it, sometimes he gets up REALLY early, so I didn't pay attention to what was going on while he was doing his business. By 7 a.m. he was still laying around the house and not wanting to play at all. That's when he started throwing up. We called the vet around 11 a.m. because he was having issues from both ends, and we really didn't know what to do with him. They said to keep an eye on him and take him to the emergency vet if he got worse ... he got worse. We took him into the emergency vet and they taught us a very important lesson. Since Sawyer wasn't eating or drinking, we thought, just like a child, that he was getting dehydrated, so we encouraged him to suck on some ice chips. This was the wrong thing to do, apparently dogs make themselves throw up even more if they get more liquid in their bodies, so we were only making to problem worse. The vet inserted a disolvable IV pouch in Sawyer's back and gave him two shots and sent us home with some pills to stop the vommitting and coat his stomach. We stayed home with him all day Sunday to make sure he was doing better, and he had a few issues, but I could tell he was getting better. He seems fine today, we are supposed to keep giving him his medicine and feeding him small meals, but he was wanting to play this morning, so that's a really good sign. The whole ordeal really made me think about how important Sawyer has become to Martin and I. Sawyer has made us a little family. He is fun, sweet, and makes us laugh at least three times a day. I wanted a small dog because they live longer, and I wanted to make sure that he was going to be around for the long haul. Those of you who don't have a family pet may not understand, I wouldn't go as far as seeing Sawyer like a child, but he is this small little being that relies on us to take care of him. Sawyer needs us to feed him, make sure he has water, take him out to potty, and provide a warm place for him to rest. When he was sick, I felt like how I would imagine a newborn's mother would have felt ... he can't talk to me, he can't tell me what's wrong, all I know is that something IS wrong and he's relying on me to make it all better. Martin made the comment at the vet that we better make sure to get a dang good insurance plan for our kids when we have them, because if this is how we are going to be with the dog, then imagine how it's going to be with a baby. I don't worry too much about that though, I've been around babies, I am pretty good at figuring out what they need ... dogs on the other hand I'm still learning!

In other news
Martin and I have been going strong on Weight Watchers. I'm really proud of us. Ususally on a diet we make it about three weeks and then give up. So ... we just passed the three week mark. Pray for us that we can keep this going, I had a moment of weakness this week and wanted nachos like the world had ended! I looked up my favorite nachos and found out that they are 107 WW points. Those of you who do WW know that's almost a full week of points in one meal! Last night I made my own version of nachos for a mere 14 points ... and amazingly it filled the spot (thanks to Cara for forcing me to rethink my options and dragging ME to the gym! ;)! Keep us in your thoughts as we continue this journey. I would like to be at our goal weight by June when we go to Las Vegas. We've been thinking a lot about the right time to have kids, and I want to make sure I am healthy when that happens. I've been wavering lately about when that might be. I have had a pretty strong case of baby fever (thanks in part to Cara and Stephanie being so cute and pregnant at the office) but the last few weeks I've noticed that wain a little. I know things will be great when we have kids, but lately I've been thinking about a lot of things that I would still like to do with Martin before we change our life! We'll see how I feel after those cute little boys are born at the office and I see how sweet a baby is again, but right now, I think I'll stick to being a mama to a sweet little boy named Sawyer Pup!

Great Movie Moments!

This is a video Martin made to document our move to the new house!

What's new?

First off, I have to tell you what I great time I had while my mom was in a few weeks back! We hung out a lot, Mom helped me finish up some work for ordination and we went to Disney World.

I love going to DW with my mom. It makes me feel like a kid again and when we ride the Mad Hatter Cups I can't imagine anywhere I'd rather be than riding that ride with her! I ate and ate at the food and wine festival and Mom tried all kinds of foreign food. I was sad to see her go, but I'm glad we got that chance to hang out!

In other news, Martin and I are having a fight right now. We just bought BEAUTIFUL new furniture to go in our gorgeous house and great bookshelves to work as a entertainment center. However, he wants to put his childhood toys out on the bookshelves in our living room, and I want to keep things a little more "grown up." I guess that's the big difference between us, I want things to be really in "place" while Martin loves things that make him feel attached (like collectible Ghostbusters cars, which is cool and all, but I don't really want it in my living room!) I have given him the office, but that doesn't seem to be a very good consolation prize! Martin is currently gripping because I have a complaint that we always do what he wants to do, which is true, but he claims it's the other way around. Now, he's making fun of my snow village for Christmas. I have a mean husband. :(

However, I guess I should give in a little. We did just get great new furniture. In all my life I can't ever remember owning a couch that didn't come from a garage sale or used store (maybe my mom can clear this up for me) but especially since we have been married, we have owned nothing that was actually "ours." Our table is a hand-me-down from friends (who had passed it around a few times before we got it), our coffee table was made by my step-dad (which I love because it's so unique and beautiful, but it's not new), we bought our bed from Craigslist (which seems creepy at first, but you stay in hotels don't you? And, you don't get a chance to Lysol that bed before you crawl in it!) So, this purchase is really the first thing we have bought for the house that is "new!" We got a great deal at Big Lots (which I love!) We got the couch, recliner and lounger for under $600. It's really pretty and I love the way it looks.

In other news I had my first big event at work and I'm pretty happy with it. I didn't have a whole lot of time to plan, but overall it went pretty well. I really enjoy what I'm doing, but I wish I could slowly back away from the church. They are still killing me there! I'm the chair of evangelism, on the administrative council, stewardship team and teaching Disciple II. It's really awkward and weird and I really wish I could just take a break, but people keep insisting that I be there, it's really quite tiring. I guess it's good for me, I have my big ordination interview this coming Thursday and I'm super nervous. It can either go great, or I can fail, those are the options, so I guess I should deal with it!

On another note ... cable news is stupid! I have been watching Cambell Brown during this blog and 95 percent of the show was other news networks work (CBS Barack Obama interview, some lady on Good Morning America), man up CNN, DO SOME REAL WORK. Cable news is one of the reasons I didn't want to go into journalism full time, when the top job is to work for cable news that steals from the poor working journalist, it's just sickening!

Anywho, I've been reading this great book about Fertility (Taking Charge of Your Fertility) and learning all kinds of gross details about my body that Martin asks me to never share with him again. Kids are still a little ways away, but when we get ready I want to know what's going on with my body. It's been interesting to see the way God made our body with signs to teach us about our natural cycle. I would recommend every woman to read this book just so you can know these crazy facts! I also want to get my body in better shape before we get to popping out babies, like working out more and taking a vitamin (which I'm getting really used to). I'm going to join the local civic center and get better in shape so that I don't gain a thousand pounds when I finally do get pregnant.

Wow, so this blog has been all over the place tonight. Martin has since made up with me and removed the offending Ghostbuster Car and is now watching WWE in his new recliner. Life is good, and if new furniture and kids toys is all we've got to complain about then I guess it's all gonna be okay.

Ps. Sawyer says hi and he LOVES the new lounger chair. I also realized that I didn't blog at all about the election, but you all should know by now how excited I am to have Barack Obama as our new President-Elect! We had an election night party and it was a blast!