Aug

I felt a bit of regret as I looked through some mission team pictures tonight. I never finished editing the pictures and writing little blog posts for each stop. I don’t think that will happen now.

It seemed strangely appropriate that I was drawn to these two pictures of clocks. Has it really been two years since we visited Vicenza and so many other places with the Musical Mission Team? More importantly, has it really been 6 years since Tim and I got married?

Mar

I listened to a very helpful sermon this morning while exercising. Maybe it will help you too.

Mar

Strawberries are on sale at Aldi this week for 99¢. I HAD to have some.

I went grocery shopping last weekend, before this sale started, so I couldn’t justify another trip to Aldi.

Fortunately, I had an appointment on Wade Hampton yesterday, close enough to the Aldi that I could justify stopping in for the 99¢ strawberries. And the $1.49 pineapples. And the $1.69 bags of grapefruit. After the appointment, I headed over to Aldi in eager anticipation. (more…)

Jan

New Year’s Resolutions always tempt me. I love making goals and fresh starts. I could easily be one of those people who draws up a long list of detailed and impossible goals for each area of my life.

Ok, sometimes I succumb. But most of the time, I remember that there’s no way I’ll remember a resolution for a whole year, much less keep it.

This year, I made a January resolution. I’m calling it that because it only applies to January. February 1, it’s off (unless I decide to convert it into a February resolution). The January resolution is: get up at 6 am every morning. So far, so good. It helps that Tim is doing it with me, and that we bought a sunrise alarm clock.

A new year is a great time for new lessons, and I want to share a sermon that God is using to teach me more about living for Him. John Dodd preached “Who Lives the Christian Life?” from Romans 6 at Hampton Park on January 2, 2011. I’m still trying to understand Romans 6, but remembering that I am dead to sin and alive in Christ has been very helpful these first two weeks of January.

Jan

Sunday night Greenville received 5+ inches of snow, more than we’ve had in years. Today we enjoyed snow day #2, and I finally tackled my bathroom wall art project.

I bought these dishcloths at Target after Christmas 09 (or was it 08?) and a three pack of the white frames from the Target dollar section. Ever since, I’ve been dreaming of cutting out the trees and putting them in the frames. Not a hard project, but I procrastinated.

Actually, I thought I would want to sew around the edges after I cut out the trees, and that’s the reason I tackled it today. My sewing machine was still out (from making rice “socks” and Christmas garlands). I wanted to put it away, so I decided that I should take care of this project first.

After we measured and cut, I decided that hemming the edges wasn’t necessary. The pieces are stuck tight in the frames, and won’t have much opportunity to unravel, I hope.

I chickened out when it came time to cut. I loved those little dishcloths (way too much to use them for their intended purpose), and I didn’t know what I would do if I messed them up and then couldn’t use them in the frames. So I got Tim to cut them. Tim also hung them on the wall. Before you get the idea that Tim really did this project, please remember that I’m the one who found the adorable dishcloths and had the vision for putting them on the wall. I also traced around the glass and made the cutting marks. And took pictures. Anyway, here they are on my wall. Aren’t they cute?

Aug

Wow. I’m really in trouble.

Turns out AT&T’s basic customer service people are better than the CEO. Why? At least they’re friendly.

The CEO won’t help you, and he’ll threaten you with legal action.

That’s right. The story is all over the internet. (How did I miss it?) It happened about the time I first started having trouble with my phone dropping calls (almost 3 months ago!).

So: Juan, Adrianna, Jeremy, and all of the rest of my AT&T friends, I apologize for being upset because you couldn’t fix my problem. At least you were nice. That’s more than we can say about your CEO, Randall Stephenson.

For the full AT&T fiasco history, click below. Or don’t. It’s long.

Part 1

Part 2

Aug

After my last post about AT&T, I gave up on getting help in the store, and went back to calling. (more…)

Aug

In May 2009, Tim and I switched to AT&T. He got a fancy new iphone that he could use on our mission trip to Europe, and I got a shiny new red phone. It’s a Samsung a777, I think. Or maybe it’s a737. Anyway, it’s red.

I wanted an orange one, but they were out of orange ones. So I decided that I would take a green one, but they were out of those too. So I was stuck with red.

Anyway, my red phone worked beautifully, for approximately 1 year 2 weeks. (more…)

Jul

I like chocolate, and I eat peanut butter with a spoon. But together? My favorite. I can’t imagine life without chocolate and peanut butter.

Actually, I can. I spent two summers in Europe, devoid of chocolate with peanut butter. There was plenty of chocolate, yes. But no Reese’s cups, or any other chocolate-peanut butter delicacies. (more…)

Jun

My sister Erika just got married and moved to Illinois.

This is particularly notable because Erika and I grew up in Alabama. Lower Alabama, also known as L.A. We eat boiled peanuts in L.A.

I think she is experiencing a little bit of culture shock. There aren’t any boiled peanuts in northern Illinois.

There is corn. Miles of corn. Corn as far as you can see. And very few trees.

Anyway, back to the culture shock. She’s currently living in a very rural area of Illinois. We didn’t grow up in a big city, but it was a city. The city was surrounded by cotton and peanut fields, but we didn’t get out to see them much. In northern Illinois, you can’t miss the corn fields.

So, Erika’s experiencing north-south culture shock and suburban-rural culture shock at the same time.

The other day, while visiting the nearest town, she observed this unusual combination.

We can just imagine the scene. Man is dying.

Paramedic: “I’m sorry you’re having a heart attack. Just breathe deeply and think calm thoughts while I unhook this trailer and move my lawn mower.”

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