ya'll,

my parents keep asking me what i want for christmas.

and i have no idea!

i'm taking suggestions.

thanks.

list.

why hello there.

things to update you on (i like lists...)

1. it's tuesday, but it's the last day i'm working this week. i'm going to see my friend laura tomorrow in CT. she's from AL. but her grandma lives there. HOORAY!

2. 4/9 of our teams competed in plymouth, mass 2 weeks ago. we won 5 silver medals, and all the teams skated wonderfully :) so proud. there are pics on my facebook.

3. i'm so thankful for all my friends and family. they are amazing and keep me going.

4. i cooked a TURKEY on sunday. i had one mom who helped me out. but it was my responsibility. :) really exciting. it was delicious.

5. i cooked this turkey for a family thanksgiving potluck at my church for all the youth and their families. 35 people showed up. it was delicious and we had lots of leftover food.

6. i brought the leftover food to a food pantry yesterday and they were so grateful. i felt so good :)

7. as americans, we have so much to be thankful for this thanksgiving. although, we should be thankful all the time.

8. i really love diet coke.

i can't think of much else at the moment.

with that, have a wonderful thanksgiving.

quickly

i'm alive.

i know it's been a while, but i've been busy!

i have to share this story:

the little old treasurer that works at my church came into my office like he usually does just to say hello, or "good afternoon". he said, i must pass something along. he proceeded to tell me about all the compliments i have been receiving, and how at the staff parish meeting the pastor even made it a point to say what an outstanding job i am doing. that about made my YEAR!

i've been having lots of discouragement, but i now feel so much better.

hooray.

so busy! i'll write a real update soon.

peace.

i like this.

Even though our faith may be 2,000 years old, our thinking is not. True progress is a balance between preserving the essence of a certain way of life and changing things that are not essential. Christianity was born a revolutionary faith, and we have preserved that ... Paradoxically, we have succeeded in not changing the faith that is itself dedicated to change.

- His All Holiness Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of the Orthodox Christian World

this could be a soapbox post.

hi everyone.

hope this finds you well.

i'm sick of seeing political statuses on facebook, just so you know. especially people who say

"GOP, GOP, GOP! What a night!!!" or

"Good bye hope and change, hello reason, integrity, and fiscal responsibility". Sorry. just annoys me.

however, the other side annoys me as well:

"is down... bad election night for liberals and Dems: 2 Dem govs fell and gay marriage was rejected in Maine... However, for the first time in over 100 years in northern NY a Dem is elected to Congress and Washington State is protecting Domestic Partnerships"

"i don't care. i will not live in nj with chris christie as my governor. just won't do it."

"really nj? you have got to be kidding me right now."

interesting, right?

i hate it. i hate it more than i hate joel olsteen. ok, well maybe not, but you get the point.

quite frankly, i didn't like either candidate. but that doesn't mean i'm going to go post on FB all about how i'm pissed off about it. really? it's over. done. we need to hope and pray that the people in charge will do their job and do it well, right?

that actually was not what i was going to post about. i'll come back later and post the other one.

the end.

12 things.

things to take note of:

1. i got a tattoo. a white cross on the inside of my right wrist.

2. i was officially accepted into Drew University Theological School! with a huge scholarship. super exciting.

3. parents didn't freak out about tattoo.

4. switchfoot's new album, hello hurricane, is streaming on their myspace.

5. i am eating delicious pizza.

6. i left my power cord for my macbook at home today, so this is the test of how long i can make the battery last. i have limited programs running, and the display dimmed. not using wifi. turned off bluetooth. will it make it until 1 or 2? let's hope so...

7. i went to vote for governor here in nj. and the woman sadly told me that the voting machine thing was broken. now i have to go back later.

8. i handed out fair trade chocolate on halloween at my church. it was for the adults. reversetrickortreating.org

9. we didn't have one trick or treater at my house on halloween. isn't that sad? well, apparently one came but my parents ignored them cuz they were sleeping on the couch.

10. did i mention that switchfoot's new album is amazing? it officially comes out next week.

11. i watched the movie "the soloist" last night. i thought it was pretty good.

12. crap. battery time is down to an hour. :( i'll have to spend my last hour in the office reading.