My office is so clean!

That's right, all you doubters - the office is clean! Well, mostly. It's organized, at least. And we might even get some fish to live in Jim's "Deathquarium", but only with the understanding that he may not touch them. (If he does, they die.)
It feels better and more productive to be in an office that is clean and organized. I have gotten more done since the clean, and it's wonderful!
Today's my first day for the kids' ministry at Charter Oak, and I'll get to be a table parent for their dinner (as a guest tonight). And then I'm on the Sex Panel for PrimeTime to talk about purity with Jr. High girls! Whoa. Pray for me. :)

Beautiful day!

I woke up this morning to a lovely sun rise and cool air and birds singing outside my window. And, lo and behold, my morning glories are 3 inches tall by now, and I also have little hollyhock sprouts and, new this weekend, snapdragons and shasta daisies! I can't believe they're actually growing. This makes up for the time in second grade where my bean never sprouted (sabatoge, I know it).
Maybe I'm destined to have a green thumb after all!

I forgot!

My plants sprouted today! We have hollyhock and morning glory growing. :) Yay!

I'm Such A Girl!

I love this movie so much, and my roommate and I have watched it over and over again since this past Thursday. I guess I could just chalk our love of this film up to "loving Disney princess movies" and "Patrick Dempsey is attractive", and those are certainly aspects of it. But I think it communicates some strong ideas for girls to look at (because you're not getting a teenage boy within 100 feet of this film).

First of all, Gisele's (played by Amy Adams) innocence is not so overdone that you find her irritating - she just seems genuine and loveable. At one point, in what we would call naievete, she says, (while weeping) "Well of course they're in pain, they're being separated forever and ever. What kind of place is this that people are married one day and the next day they're not?" I think it's sad that we've gotten to the point that divorce and anger don't cause us a moment's pause, when we should be mourning the love that's changed. Girls shouldn't expect perfection (which the film does depict to some extent), but it's good to dream about the perfect man that God has for you to be with forever in marriage.

Secondly, the transformation of the male lead, Robert Philip (played by Patrick Dempsey), takes him from being the traditional cynical divorce lawyer and single father, ready to take a non-romantic step and propose to his girlfriend of five years, Nancy, to being a still rational guy, but also a believer in true love and the transformation it can bring to life. Not unlike a fairy tale. It's fun to see how his harsh edges are mellowed by the Gisele character. At the same time, Gisele maintains her ideals for love and family and happily ever after, but it's mellowed by the realization of the ways that life isn't perfect, and how some people aren't what they seem. The maturity of both Robert and Gisele balances them into more compassionate, loving people.

The movie is called "Enchanted" because that's what the Gisele character does to those around her - she's enchanting to them. Isn't one of our roles to be a light for Christ? I mean, that doesn't always mean that we'll be singing musicals in Central Park, but we are called to love others unfailingly in imitation of Christ. Anyway, once I watch a movie a number of times, I have to rationalize why I'm not outisde jogging or something, so that's where I went with it. :)

All in all, it's a cute movie. And safe for kids to watch! As I was watching it, I realized how I haven't had a lot kids' movie time lately. I used to babysit for the Jones kids in Illinois fairly regularly, and that's when I got to see all the cool kids' movies that were out. Now I have to make myself do that!

Worst. Blogger. Ever.

Hey, y'all! Sorry I'm so stinking bad at blogging! I don't have internet at my house, and since my last post I haven't had any time to go and grab internet elsewhere. Wow. Insane!
Here's something cool: I got new furniture! It's all set about the living room and my bedroom and everywhere - and an island will be in the kitchen when I get back home next week. I am looking forward to being settled! Also, I'm looking forward to painting - one room down, six more to go (somewhere around there!).
I'll put up some pictures - what a blessing that my parents and I are both moving: they into a smaller home in Florida, and me into my permanent home a the camp. That means that while my parents have surplus of furniture, I have a paucity. (Ten points for the use of paucity). So things worked out perfectly, and while I will miss them, I am happy to have my "childhood" sofa and beds and stuff at my new grown-up house.
Check out my gardening stuff too - I'm trying to cultivate a green thumb in myself and beautiful things in my garden! :)

My flower bed overhaul

Here's a before and after shot of my front flower bed (well, one of them). I worked hard after work today to make it look cleaned up and ready to grow things. There are crocus and iris and daffodils coming up. I"m excited for "real spring".

Hopefully, I will recover from lugging gigantic bags of soil out of Lowe's today...people actually watched me in the parking lot trying to wrestle those bags into my car. It was funny, but I felt stupid laughing at myself even though I was in my head.

P.S. No update on the seeds I planted - I think it's nearer 7 days for germination, so maybe nothing for a bit yet.

A Green Thumb?

So, I've become inspired to grow a garden. That's right! So I spent hours today poring over books about planting seasons, and the latest freeze in Zone 5, and shade plants vs. sun plants and what kind of garden I would like best!
Well, as to what garden I like best, my house is very cottage-like, and I don't have a lot of time for upkeep, so I think that a cottage garden will work well because it's designed so that there's always color and the plants keep a majority of the weeds down. Also, lots of perennials avoid extra planting in the fall. Great fit!
I also based my plant choices from all of the books that I loved to read - Anne of Green Gables, etc. - and planted (indoors under a heat lamp) impatiens, sweet williams, morning glory, snapdragons, narcissus, spearmint, lavendar. All things that look beautiful and smell lovely as well. I can't wait! I won't put up a picture yet, because nothing is growing, but i"ll keep you updated!

How did this happen?

So, basically, I became a sports fan. I mean, I've always loved the Steelers because who couldn't? They're wonderful. But my life has changed significantly in the realm of "sports fan" since college, and I'm not completely sure why. But it all started with the 2004 Steelers and Big Ben and the 15-1 season, and then White Sox winning the World Series, and then Pittsburgh winning Super Bowl XL...and during that time, I started to listen to Mike and MIke on ESPN (Chicago's 1000 AM) and I joined the official Chicago Steeler's Fan Club. Basically, as my friend Allan says, "You're like as much of a jock as you could be without actually playing any sports." I love to watch sports! And it has helped me to be more comfortable making small talk with people when I'm out at camp fairs and things, so I guess it's a good thing. And sports are a nice, relaxing sort of thing to watch.
The reason I recognize this is because my latest genre of reading has been "Sports Biography". I just read this book about Bobby Jones called "Grand Slam" and it's great! I love it because not only is it a book about a golfer, but it's about the historical context of his life (World War I) and about his faithfulness to his wife and to what he believes despite being the greatest amateur golfer of all time, and essentially the "rock star" of his time. Anyway, I totally recommend it.
And on a side note, Frank Caviezel, who playes Bobby in the feature film, has a lovely smile and is quite good looking. I'm a fan.

Auntie Leeanne

What a privilege to share in the love of a little baby girl! Since little Dylan Elizabeth has come into the world, I have been so blessed to watch her crinkle up her eyes and sleep and fuss and wave her arms around and have tummy time and burp and look at her mommy and daddy. And just this week, I saw her laugh and giggle when a bunch of girls from the local youth group were playing with her and loving her. What a precious little girl! How great to be able to be "Auntie" Leeanne (for those of you who don't know, she's not really my niece at all) to a wobbly-headed, blue-eyed giggler who just rolled over for the first time! :)