oven mitts

When I was at camp last week, helping out in the kitchen, something interesting happened.

Camp has some pretty gigantic ovens... and they older too - cast iron almost, with giant flames that leap out of the bottom when you look in. Camp also apparently does not see the value in oven squares... they only have oven mitts.

I hate oven mitts.

I hate putting them on my hands.

Not only that, but I feel like they do not work very well.


But here I was, standing in front of this giant stove, asked to get out 10 by 10 dishes of roast beef from it's depths.

With oven mitts.



So I guess the momentous event was me sucking it up and putting on the oven mitts to do what I needed to do. I realized 1) I really DO hate oven mitts, but even more so 2) I really do NOT like reaching my hand inside of ovens... especially gigantic ancient ones that you could push an evil witch into ala Hansel & Gretel.


I did it anyway.... and I hope that in any adversity I can count on myself to put on the proverbial oven mitts and make the best of a bad situation. I try. I really do.

fall is in the air

It has been awhile since updating, so I figured it is time...

Things have been reasonably busy, but in a good way... let's see...

Two weekends ago, Chris Knapp was in town... we have not seen each other in a few years, I think. It was fun to get out an see people other than the usual crowd. (Not that I do not love you guys, I know you understand) We also made a stop at Pat's for cheesesteaks... and he forced me to eat some. I was not terribly upset, though I am not a huge fan of Pat's OR cheesewhiz. Ugh. Overall, catching up was awesome and we had fun. It also snapped me out of the lonely depression I was sort of sinking into. Chris is always good for that. :)

Last week, aside from seeing Chris, I was pretty busy helping Josh with AH and AA auditions. We spent Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday afternoon auditioning the talented kids at LM and then spent 3 hours deciding who would go to what group. We cut about half the kids, so there was a lot of work to be done.

By the time Friday night came, I was exhausted and went home and slept.

Sat was also busy, trekking out to camp in the morning. I am part of the Worship / PR team for camp. Basically, we are a group of campers, counselors, chaplains, and other various people who love camp and we have a worship service that we have prepared. We go around to churches in the presbytery and run a camp style worship service, and then try to get kids to sign up to come out to camp. Unfortunately, enrollment at camp has really been in a downward trend the past few years and we need to do mroe PR.

I am stopping myself from soapboxing about camp.... but its AWESOME.

Sat afternoon I worked at the hospital - literally the SLOWEST night I have EVER had in my LIFE. Oh it was terrible! It was bad enough that I spent a good 2 hours on myspace looking up former high school classmates. And I admit it, I was a little bit jealous.... nearly all of them are married or have kids or are engaged. I keep trying to tell myself that God has good plans for me and that it will happen when the time is right. But part of me also thinks... okay, im 25 years old... I need to meet someone, date for at least a year, be engaged for at least a year, and then get married.... sigh. I didnt want to have my first kid past 30.

But then again, I spent about 10 minutes today on the moonbounce at our school picnic....


...



So maybe I will still feel ridiculously young at 30 and it wont be an issue. (sigh) Someone has to be out there, right?

I also keep telling myself that the later I get married, the less likely I will be to get divorced because I will know who I am, and they will know who they are....
Overall, I guess I am really not THAT worried about it. Truthfully, my main concern is that at 25 years old, there are not that many men left who 1) havent had sex with a lot of girls (and really, id like one who hasnt at all) 2) dont drink and 3) find faith important. I dont intend to lower my standards... but it is discouraging that nearly everyone I meet just does not meet the measuring stick.

Trust trust trust... im trying, I really am. I am also hoping. Its not that I want a husband or children, but I want someone to share my life with whom I can love completely and without reserve. Someone who wants to be with me too. I am sure it will happen some day. I promise I am not as down or as concerned about it as all this writing probably seems.


Anyway, Sunday Ethan and I went to church. The regular pastor dude was not there, so someone else taught. Instead of finishing up Hebrews, we did an overview of Phillipeans. And I am pretty sure that is spelled totally wrong but I am too lazy to change it. It was good, I thought. Afterwards was good too.


I spent the afternoon pretty much alone bc my mom was out with her friend and my brother and dad had gone fishing. I love having the house to myself! In the evening I went over to Josh and Leslies and we watched the Incredibles.... after that I came home and slept.

On Monday.... hmmm.... I feel like I did something. OH I went shopping and got new earphones. SO WONDERFUL. That means less headaches at work.

Yesterday I drove back out to camp with Noah to do worship team. 120 of the Presbytery were there.... when we got there, Amy was stressing. Some of her workers didnt show up, so dinner needed to be transported out to the Pavilion and then served. Imagine 5 people serving 120. I dunno, I am not a waitress... but I had a really good time. It was fun to serve everyone dinner and make sure they had everything they needed. I can totally see why my mom felt that waitressing was fun. I didnt spill anything either. :)
After dinner, we ran the worship service. I think it went pretty well. It is nice for pastors and preachers who usually RUN worship services to sit back, relax, and participate instead. I hope that lots of churches signed up to have us come out... we shall see!
I also ran into Dan Moore, who is a pastor out in Lancaster. I know him from karate with Ethan. He looks like Jesus. It was so odd to run into him because it was completely out of context. I am actually suprised that I remember who he was. Once I explained my connection, he recognized me too. I think. Or maybe he was lying. But he is a pastor, so I hope he wasnt.


Today was a picnic for school. I went into school a bit late so that I could get some extra sleep. They had a moonbounce, which I already mentioned. It was SO FUN. I love moon bounces. I also played a lot of frisbee with some kids I didnt know. I met a handful of my students, but most of them didnt come. Ah well. I got to moonbounce and play frisbee... so I dont really care that they were not there! :) It would have been fun, but I could not exactly force them to come out if they did not want to.

Speaking of school, its AWESOME. Like seriously so wonderful. I was unsure of whether or not I would like it... but it really is great. I am so not stressed and it is a GREAT feeling. I t is great to come home at night and not feel like I need to grade a billion things. I mean, I have 90 kids, but my day is free to actually WORK on that stuff. When you are a regular teacher.... you are teaching all day. Which means preparing, grading, and things like that need to be done basically outside of school. But at virtual school, you have 8 hours to actually work / grade / talk to kids / prepare lessons. At the end of the day, I can shut off my computer and not feel bad or guilty or stressed about going home and reading or watching tv. Its GREAT. We are expanding at such a fast pace too that I tihnk they will hire even more science teachers next year. Actually, teachers of ALL subjects... so my friends who are teachers, I would encourage you to check it out. Think of it - all the fun stuff about teaching without the stress. Sure, there are limitations, and its hard to not SEE your kids all the time.... but you communicate with them on a different level. It is really neat.



So that is a pretty long update... tonight is girls night at Brickside. It will be awesome to spend time with my ladies. Always a necessity!!! :)

china

I submitted this to the travel section of the Inquirer. Who knows if it will make it there, I am not exactly a writer... but I figured I might as well post it.

I also won 7 bucks on powerball last night. powerball + two numbers.

Lastly, if you want to hear me sing, you can check the link below. If not, its okay.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=G2tsgzurLAY





This summer I traveled to China for two weeks. I knew before leaving that I was going to be immersed in a different culture, but I had no idea that it would change my perspective on life itself.
China is beautiful. It is beautiful in both its wealth and its poverty. I found it to be a world of intrigue. Behind every gate lay a mystery: it may be an ancient temple, or it may be the door to blight. The pictures I took of China do not do justice to the strange dichotomy of new and old, of splendor and decay.
We started our journey in Beijing, where we were stunned by the sheer size of the Great Wall. We traveled to the gorgeous canals of Souzhou and to the terracotta warriors of Xian. We spent our final days walking the magnificent gardens of Shanghai.
During our two weeks, we marveled over the Chinese language, causing fits of appreciative giggles from the Chinese whenever we attempted a hello or thank you. We met so many people eager to talk to us, take our picture, and simply look at us and how different we were.
I loved being there. I drank in every moment.
It was not until I returned, however, that I realized how different I had become.
Some aspects of the change were merely amusing – my instinct to say “xie xie” instead of “thank you”, how everything seemed expensive, how thankful I was for air conditioning and Wawa hoagies!
As I recovered from jet lag, and as time continues to pass, I have found more important differences in myself. The Chinese people were overall very poor in material belongings but rich in spirit. An afternoon there is best spent strolling leisurely through one of the perfectly manicured gardens, playing cards, or simply sitting around with friends. Unlike here, they did not seem to have the need to be on the go all the time. They did not need constant entertainment. These people never seemed to be bored.
Being enveloped into that mind frame that has really changed what is important to me and how I want to spend my time. Life is not about what you have, it is about who you have in it. It is not about having the latest gadget or the coolest clothes. It is about getting to know people, spending time with them, and loving them. The things that worried me or upset me before I went just do not exist anymore. I strive to carry these lessons with me wherever I go.
We are so blessed, so lucky to be here in the States. Now I understand why the rest of the world is willing to die to get here. It has been eye-opening to realize how rich in goods I am, but know that means nothing if I am poor in spirit. I hope that everyone gets a chance to visit China and experience its beauty like I did.

sigh

I gotta get out of here.