this had a title, but I forgot it.

Lately I've been noticing that I'm forgetting things a lot. I mean, I'm not missing appointments or leaving things and forgetting where they are (yet), but I am forgetting what I was going to say very often and I'm having a hard time focusing. Even as I'm typing this my mind is wandering and I'm trying to decide if I should get some brownies and ice cream for the Lost party tonight. I mean, that sounds delicious, but I'm not sure if it goes with the chips and dip theme I've got going on. But would anyone notice, let alone mind, if the brownie and ice cream they were eating didn't match the theme, as long as it was scrumptious?

This is what I mean. When I set out to write this blog, I honestly had a main idea and several supporting points to back my thesis, but I honestly can't remember them. What's become of me? I've recently turned the big 2-2 and I'm thinking that this may be the top of the hill for me, and I can only go down from here.

Or maybe I just need to take some vitamins, right Dad?

I've also been waking up (like, wide-awake-waking-up) between 6:30 and 6:45 every morning for the last week or so. Maybe that has something to do with it?

Diagnosis, anyone?

Five. 5. Cinco.

I've been tagged by Todd to do this survey, so here we go!

What were you doing 5 years ago?
1. Finishing up my last year of high school.
2. Working as a children's pastor.
3. Fighting God on the whole ministry-as-a-career thing.
4. Still thinking I wanted to be a shark biologist.
5. Spending a lot of time at the beach.

5 things on your to-do list today?
1. Meet with Karen for UMARMY prep (done!).
2. Pick up some Texas toast and brown mascara (done!).
3. Start watching Alias from the beginning of Season 1 (maybe).
4. Unpack my books a little.
5. Cook dinner.

5 snacks you enjoy?
in no particular order:
1. potato chips (my biggest food weakness).
2. pudding.
3. ice cream.
4. chocolate covered chocolate chip granola bars (I reason that these are healthy candy bars).
5. macaroni and cheese (Kraft please!).

5 things you would do if you were a billionaire?
1. Pay off my and my family's debt (was that proper grammar?).
2. Buy a house.
3. With a walk-in-closet.
4. Buy a car that's not a mom-mobile (not that I have anything against them).
5. Take a vacation to an island that has a movie theater, a SuperTarget, and no people (except those required to run said theater and Target).

5 of your bad habits?
1. I eat terribly (either not enough or too much crap).
2. I check my email way too often.
3. When I'm with my brother Brandon, I/we use too many inside jokes.
4. I relate every situation I'm in to an Office episode, which can lead to uncontrollable quoting of Michael Scott.
5. I'm only selectively patient.

5 places you've lived?
1. Orlando, Florida.
2. Jacksonville, North Carolina.
3. Deltona, Florida.
4. St. Augustine, Florida.
5. Lufkin, Texas.

5 jobs you've had?
1. Childcare worker at Pine Ridge Fellowship.
2. Children's pastor at Pine Ridge Fellowship.
3. Camp counselor at a United Methodist summer camp.
4. Sales associate at Ann Taylor and Old Navy (gross).
5. Intern at Lufkin FUMC.

5 tags and why:
I don't know 5 people who blog and haven't already been tagged for this, but I think that my dear friend Lori's responses to these questions would be humorous and enlightening.

I'm feelin' it.

so far.

here's a quick rundown of my life thus far in Lufkin:

• Moving In: this is much more time consuming than I thought. The Peterson family was incredibly amazing to allow me to stay in their guest house this summer, and I have tons of space. It feels kind of weird to go from having the smallest room in my parent's house (cough, cough if you're reading this, Dad) to having an entire house to myself. Movin' on up.
• Workin': the kids here are not out of school yet, so there's not too much programming work to be done. But I have been in the office, getting readjusted and organizing and calendaring, which if you know anything about me means heaven on earth. I just got this calendar at Target yesterday, and it has brought me much joy.
• Grocery Shopping: this actually really stressed me out. There's only one Walmart here in town, and it's always busy. And, on top of like a million and a half people running around, they did not have several food items at this Walmart that I normally eat back home, which as Brad can attest almost led me to tears. Last summer I could live without strawberry-watermelon popsicles, because eventually I would be home and able to eat them to my heart's content. I am incredibly excited and happy to be staying here permanently this time, but at the same time I am definitely noticing that I'm still a little emotional about it all. Which can lead to near break-downs in the middle of the freezer aisle.
  
• Uno Tournaments: so Brad made fun of me when I purchased this game for us to play (I believe his exact phrase was, "yeah, I played that in like third grade..."), but since then he has become obsessed. 5 games out of 7 tournaments now consume my free time, and I'm discovering that even though he might not have played since third grade, he's still really good. I lose most of the time, but Brad is such a gracious winner (ha ha...) that it's still fun. =)

Coming Attractions:

I'm meeting Brad's extended family this weekend, and I'm oddly calm about it. I think it's going to be fun.

punch it in the face?

so when you have a couple days with absolutely nothing to do and no where to go until, say, Saturday...

how do you kill time?

Stuff Christians Like

Okay, so I have been reading this blog since before this guy made it cool. It's written by a Christian who likes to poke fun at Christians, himself included. It's pretty insightful and almost always true. It honestly makes me laugh out loud (aka lol) to think about how silly we can be sometimes, and I thought I would share part of a post entitled "Refusing to Take Compliments" with you. I'm thinking about adopting this idea, so please don't take offense if you hear me say it.

...the truth is that I hate compliments. I can't take them. The minute someone says something nice about me I discount it. I say things like, "Oh that was nothing. Anyone could have done that." Or, like many Christians, I say something holy sounding like, "It was all God. To Him be the glory."

Why are compliments the Christian version of kryptonite? What makes us so uncomfortable? My dad told me a story about a minister complimenting a girl after she sang a song. She blushed and rejected his words by saying, "That was not me, that was all God." He responded by saying something like, "I said it was a good song, I didn't think it was heavenly though. No offense, but I think God would have hit that high note."

I completely think that pride is one of our greatest enemies and I constantly have to be on guard for it. That's why I've started going back to counseling. It's so easy to get intoxicated on compliments. And I've seen lots of young pastors crumble under the weight of positive feedback when their churches blow up with attendance. But from this moment forward, if I give you a compliment and you tell me, "God did that, not me," please know that I am going to reply , "Nah, that was you. He would have done a much better job."