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.

labyrinth

so, i'm in a prayer group that meets on monday mornings. we are reading a book called "beyond words: fifteen ways of prayer" by kristen johnson ingram. this books talks about different ways of praying. and this week was focused on the labyrinth. it was a neat experience, and the book discussed how we should view the walk as a pilgrimage of sorts. and that whatever happens during the walk was supposed to happen, and we are supposed to hear something from God.

so, during my labyrinth walk, i walked rather slowly and didn't know what to expect. there were others walking it at the same time, so i was concerned about running into them. there were also two ways to enter the labyrinth and i took a different path than the person in front of me, who, i learned later, was taking 5 steps and then pausing, going much slower than me. during my journey, i had to step around this person twice. at one point, we came face to face and i smiled and stepped around him, continuing on my journey.

after i finished the labyrinth, i spent some time in silence in our sanctuary-at the front near the cross. i sat on the floor, and just listened. listened to outside, and prayed about my experience. then suddenly, it occurred to me what had happened in the labyrinth. i wrote this reflection:

"gracious god, there is so much noise in our lives, and things that come in the way of us spending time with you. there are distractions, small talk, the internet, cell phones, ipods, etc. i ask that you allow us to find time to "be still" everyday. it is times like these when we feel your presence the mots. we have roadblocks, and other people, or things, that keep us from getting to you. people that are making us stray from your sight, and your call in our lives. may we be able to avoid those and easily go around them, like people in the labyrinth. just smile and continue on. it becomes clear to us after we step around where the center is-our ultimate goal of finding the way to you, and for what your will in our lives is, because that is what is most important, o lord. amen."

peace