going on a mouse hunt...

I think I should have read "Best Ways to Catch a Mouse" before attempting.

Do not think, in any way, that you can simply corner the mouse, scoop it up, and take it outside. Mice chase each other for fun since they are young. They are much faster and smaller than you, and as such, will easily be able to evade you.

Do not plaster all areas along the floor with sticky-traps, or tape cupboards shut in case they come up through the pipes. Some people are under the misconception that this is far more humane than the clap-traps. However, imagine that you are a mouse, whose body is entirely covered in fur, with a fragile tail, and not much strength; next, picture super-gluing yourself to a sheet of paper, and then trying to pull free, only to rip off your tail and a mass of hair. If you still think this sounds better than death, I invite you to cover your entire arm in duct tape, and then slowly pull it off. Finally, because mice are small and scotch tape is not very strong, chances are, the poor thing will still attempt to squeeze through, and get caught in a similar sticky situation. It will scream, and you will be forced to rescue it. Have fun.

I might have been a little more successful in my 2am mouse hunt.

First, it was in my Christmas tree box

(I know, It's almost June. Don't judge.)

Then, it got trapped in my dresser.

Then, I cornered it under my desk.

For about an hour and a half.

And then....

It sprinted to the closet.

The one next to the attic.

The point of no return.

And it's like this thing knows what a glue trap is.

He dances in front of it.

And then runs away from it.

stupid mouse.

we'll see if you're still laughing when we bring out the rat poison.

And now,

It's 4 in the morning.

And I can't sleep.

Because there's a mouse in my room.

And then I read that mice leave a scent wherever they go

So I need to deep clean this room.

No time like the present to begin, right?

Um...dear JaqJaq (yes, we named him).

Please leave my room.

And my house.

You can go live at the neighbors.

I'm pretty sure they have cheese and peanut butter, too.

It's for your sake...

And my sanity.

I need my sleep.

I have to teach 2nd grade Sunday School in five hours.

Okay? Thanks. Bye.

Radical

What is following Jesus worth to you?

In America, it's almost too easy to be a Christian.

We forget what Jesus told his followers.

The whole leave behind everything thing.

The whole Jesus is the most important thing thing.

The whole we should want to tell everyone about Him thing.

We should want to abandon everything for him.

But, in a world (in the South at least) that being a Christian is "the thing to be"

And in a world where it doesn't cost anything
We forget the real meaning of Christianity.

We don't live radically.

There's this guy named David Platt that's a pastor of a church in Birmingham.

And he wrote a book called "Radical".

Subtitled "Talking Back Your Faith From the American Dream".

And I got it today at Lifeway.

And I read it today.

And almost finished it today.

It's that amazing.

So, you need to go buy it.

You can get it here for $10 plus shipping.

And no, I'm not getting paid to tell you all this.

And no, I didn't get the book for free

(well, I did. But only because I have an awesome Mom that wants to read this book too.)

And I'm learning to live my life radically for God.

And I'm pretty sure that's a good thing.

I don't have it all together yet.

But the pieces are fitting together quite nicely.

And some things that weren't clicking are clicking.

And...I think it's all going to be okay.

So. At the end of the book,

(I promise I'm not spoiling anything.)

Platt invites readers to join his church in what is called "The Radical Experiment"

(I know this because I always read the last chapter first. That's why I knew that I could take my time reading the 7th Harry Potter book when it came out. I read the Epilogue first and knew that Harry wouldn't die. But that's completely off topic.)

Anyways,

I'm planning on taking up this "Radical Experiment" thing.

And blogging about it.

On here. Not on my other blog that most people don't know about.

Because I'm being radical.

For those of you that don't have a copy of the book in your hands (Mom)

I'm sharing the 5 steps.

I'll elaborate as I go on...or you can go to http://www.radicalexperiment.org/

1. Pray for the entire world.

I'm using Operation World for this part.

2. Read through the entire word.

I've never done this before. And I'm not sure how this is going to work. But, I'm setting a goal. And I saw on a blog I read about a site called YouVersion. It has some bible reading plans and some resources and stuff. My goal is to read through the Bible before January 1st. We'll see how that works out. :)

3. Sacrifice money for a specific purpose.

4. Spend time in another context.

5. Commit my life to a multiplying community.

The last three, I'm still figuring out.

But, I'll definitely let you know my plans,

when they come to be! :)

I'm excited about what this next year holds!

If you want to join me on this journey,

I'd love to know!

I also created a little journal thing that I'm using.

It's nothing much.

But, let me know if you'd like a copy.

It's just to guide me through.

Because I need all the help I can get.

Haha.

Just leave a comment.

And if you're comfortable an email.

God's doing amazing things! :)

edit: I know, part of the video is cut off. just click on it and it will go to youtube. the full version is there.

eight years.

It’s been eight years.

Eight long years.

Eight years that flew by.

Eight years that I’m not sure I’d want to go back to.

Eight years that I would give anything to go back and be the change.

I went to two 6th grade graduations this morning.

The first one was for the girls in my small group.

They asked me to come last Wednesday.

And I’m still just in shock of the fact that they think I’m cool enough to come to stuff like this.

I mean, come on.

I’m old.

The second was for Max.

Because, well…

He’s my little brother.

And all this talk of sixth grade graduations

Got me thinking back

To the days when I was in Sixth Grade.

Back to the days when socks with dress shoes was cool.

To me at least.

At the 6th grade graduation with the girls,

The teachers read off some information about each kid.

What they like to do

What their future plans are.

And it got me thinking.

All the kids had high expectations.

Some wanted to be

Doctors,

Lawyers,

Presidents,

“Someone who makes a lot of money”.

It seems like this last one was what they focused on.

Money.

Getting somewhere in life.

Honestly,

I don’t remember what I wanted to be in 6th grade.

Probably a teacher.

I always wanted to be a teacher.

Except for the time I wanted to be a

Lawyer

or Social Worker.

And that’s just in the last two years.

For real.

But, I think the message I would tell the kids

Would be something different.

I think if I was talking to these kids,

I would tell them to

Dream Big.

Chase after their dreams.

Work as hard as the can to do their best.

But in the end,

Leave it up to God.

He might have different plans for you.

Money doesn’t matter.

Relationships do.

I think I wish that someone had told me all of this.

Before I got caught up in the college hype.

The “I want to go to Harvard and be a lawyer” mind set.

Because.

I think it would have changed things.

For the better?

Who knows.

I am who I am today because of the decisions I made.

Decisions to go to Auburn.

Decisions to transfer.

Decisions to change my major.

Decisions to let God guide my paths.

Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.”

It’s true.

Things have changed so much since eight years ago.

May 21, 2002 was when I graduated sixth grade.

Six years later on May 20, 2008

I went to another graduation.

A High School Graduation.

I can’t believe it’s been two years since I graduated high school.

But, my high school just had graduation last night for this year’s Seniors.

It’s been two years.

I’ve changed so much.

For the better. :)

And in two more years

-God willing-

I’ll be graduating

Yet again.

In a different place.

With different people.

And you know what-

I’m willing to bet that I’ll look back and be able to see some changes.

Hey-

I’m already learning to let go and let God lead.

Who knows where that’s going to take me?

semi/almost/weekly link love.

So.

Here we are again.

I know it's been more than a week.

but link love...we finally meet again.

Here we go!

1. I should preface this link by saying that I'm a grammar Nazi. It may not always look like it in my posts where I don't proofread my stuff...but it matters to me. Probably way more than it should. Actually way more than it should. I mean...my inner wannabe-English teacher comes out way more often than she should. There's a reason why I'm the designated proofreader. So, when I was googling the other day (I don't remember what) and the phrase "I Judge You When You Use Poor Grammar" came up...I had to click on it. And thus...link number one was formed.

2. I love Joy the Baker. She's pretty neat. And cooks pretty cool stuff (I mean, come on. Peanut Butter Bacon Cookies! Two of my favorite things). And you see, I was going back through the archives and I stumbled across a post entitled "How to Impress a Boy by Baking". And suddenly, I realized the error of my ways. Um...make way for the next Martha Stewart/Bakerella/Pioneer Woman please. Lauren apparently just needs to learn to bake. And so, I decided to pass on this "wisdom" to you. I mean, it did make me smile. :)

3. Jonathan Adler. I. Am. In. Love. With. You. (Or rather, you're stationary). You might possibly have just replaced Vera as my new favorite. Sadly, I'm cutting down on the impulse spending, so you'll have to wait until I've depleted my stationary supply. And we all know that that may take awhile. And...dinnerware? Can I just hang you on the walls? You're just so pretty. And this rug? If I had $750....I'd send it to the starving kids in Africa. Right?

4. Grosgrain is one of my favorite sites out there. It makes me feel crafty. And I have SO many patterns that I would sew...if I could sew. But, these shoes are no-sew. And they're cute. And they have rick-rack. And buttons. And Lauren LOVES some rick-rack. I mean, you just can't be sad when you're playing with rick-rack! :)

5. Um. Just read this. It's from Stuff Christians Like...and it's on a heathen site, but it's okay. You can ask for forgiveness later.

And that's it! Thanks for joining me for my semi-almost-weekly link love. :)

Yay!

Show Us Your Life Friday

This week's "Show Us Your Life Friday" at Kelly's Korner is HOMETOWNS!! :)

So. I call a certain small town in Alabama my hometown. I know it’s not exactly where I was born and all, but it’s where all my memories are from. We moved here when I was four, and honestly, I love it. In high school, all I could think about was how I wanted to get out and away, but now…all I want is to stay here and live in one of those cute houses downtown and teach at the local elementary school. ‘Cause let me tell you- after observing in some of those other counties for education hours- NO ONE is better than some Elmore County. There’s just something about the community aspect that the rest of them lack.

And yes. I know it’s probably “dangerous” to put this kind of information out there…but all you would have to do is stalk me on Facebook for approximately 3.9 seconds to figure out what high school I graduated from. I don’t make it that hard. But all that being said- please don’t show up on my front doorstep. Firstly, because we don’t use the front door. We’d think you were a traveling salesman or a Mormon. No offence if you are one…but they’re the only ones that use the front door. And secondly, you showing up would probably just freak me (and the family) out. At least have the decency to call first. :)

Here’s what you should know about my town without telling you it’s name. (Because, hello, I don’t want creepy people knocking on my front door!)

1. There’s this bridge downtown. It’s been in movies (like Big Fish) because it’s really pretty. And there’s a river that flows underneath it where a lot of people go canoeing. And kayaking. But I don’t, because I’'m not a huge fan of the rushing water that could sweep me away. They host the Coosa River Challenge and stuff here. We always know when that’s happening because there’s a lot of boats and stuff parked places.

2. We also have Fort Toulouse. It’s a really cool French/Indian encampment that’s been here since before my town was a town. The Treaty of Fort Jackson was signed here. It ended part of the War of 1812. We learned about it in Alabama History in the 4th grade. We also visited the fort at least once a year it seemed like from about 1st-6th.

Quick story about Fort Toulouse. When I was in 4th grade, we had to build an “indian house” (I know, the terminology is no longer PC). Most kids got a sheet of paper and twisted it to make a teepee. Some used cloth. You know the drill. Well, not me. Dad and I went out to the fort and took some MEASUREMENTS of the “indian home” (as in the stucture one made out of wood…not the teepee). Then, we went home and built one to scale. For me to bring in for my project. Um yeah. And you wonder why I’m a perfectionist. :)

3. About 83 million years ago (back when the dinosaurs roamed the Earth) an asteroid crashed into my town. It’s, like, the only confirmed impact crater in the state of Alabama. And what’s really neat- some people think that this crater impact might have been what killed the dinosaurs. Just saying…you know you wish your town had an impact crater like mine!

4. While my town is getting bigger all the time (they’re in the works to add in a new stoplight…I think it’s number 15 or something like that), there’s still a small town feel to it. I mean, the only place to go on Friday nights is WalMart. We don’t have a movie theater or bowling lanes or anything like that. But, I like it that way. We’re still one of those small town Southern cities that has a “church on every corner”. And I don’t think that’s bad either.

5. Little League and football take over just about every Saturday in the year. And when it's not the midgets playing, the high school team is. AND that's not even mentioning college ball. I mean, around here's it's all about "who you go for?". Auburn or Alabama--War Eagle! And, I think that’s enough said.

I was looking through old pictures to use in this post and found these from high school. This might explain the football enthusiasm a little.

This was before/during a Pep Rally. Yes. We take an hour out of the school day every Friday that there’s a home game.

In some places, teams roll the rival team’s school. But not in this town. We roll our own school. Except I didn’t. Because I was in bed by 10 when the fun started. I like my sleep. :)

And—that’s life in my “small town” in Alabama!

If you want to join in on the fun, head on over to Kelly’s Korner to check out this week’s Show Us Your Life Friday! :)

She.

She's six years old.

She's in the first grade.

She likes school, and her favorite subject is Math.

She likes playing with dolls in her free time.

Her favorite color is red.

Her favorite food is chicken.

She has 6 siblings- 4 brothers and 2 sisters.

She likes to go to school because she loves coloring and the school is pretty.

Her favorite bible story is Noah's Ark.

She likes to go to the project because they sing songs.

She washes clothes and carries water with her siblings.

She lives close to the river.

And she's happy because I'm her sponsor. :)

Why do I sponsor Sandra? Because it's a way to show God's love to someone. It's a way to show a child that God loves and cares for them. That they have importance in this world. That they're worth something. Because of Compassion, Sandra has been given clothes, shoes, groceries, pots and pans, an education, a safe place to go play, and a church family. Because of Compassion, she has been shown love.

This post by Shaun Groves shows how Compassion doesn't just affect the sponsored children. Sponsorship means something to the sponsor, too. I don't know if I'll ever get the chance to meet Sandra. But, I know that she means something to me. Something more than a picture on my bulletin board. She's real. Though she's too young to write to me, her mom and brother write to tell me all about her. In the four months I've sponsored her, I've gotten two letters. And I've written 3 (1 still needs to be mailed). I can see that she's real. That it's not just sending $38 a month that makes the difference. It's the relationship formed.

If you're interested in learning about how to sponsor a child through Compassion, please go to their website here to learn more. You won't regret it. :)

A First Time for Everything

So. I'm kind of into the digital scrapbooking thing.

I think it's pretty cool.

I don't really scrapbook with it, but I like to play around with Photoshop

And create cool blog things.

Because I'm GREAT in the art of procrastination.

I've been working for about a week on a new project.

Ahem.

I created my very first digital scrapbooking kit.

And I finished it today.

It's not perfect because it's my first one.

And I don't know how to do everything yet.

But, I think it's still pretty cute.

Ladies and Gentlemen (aka Dad),

I present....

"Sunshine on A Cloudy Day"

It's named that because....I don't really know. I just thought it sounded cute.

And I live for cute.

So, if your interested...you can go here: http://www.4shared.com/file/GJKagTzn/CD_SunshineOnACloudyDay.html?

to download my new kit. It has 5 elements and 6 papers. I thought it was really fun to create, so I'll probably make another sometime. I'll post it whenever it's finished. :)

Oh- and please comment if you download. I'd love to know if anybody else actually thinks that it's cute! :)

Yay! Enjoy!

A Week in the Life Album- Complete!

I know, it’s been awhile. But it took me a good two weeks to get everything printed out and put together. And then- it took me another week to get it photographed. But now, it’s done.

By the way- the pictures in the baseball card sleeves were printed out in what my computer calls the “wallet” size. They happened to fit- and it was a TON easier than photoshopping each image to the right size. They were printed on regular printer paper, not photo paper. The “big picture” on the front page of each day was a 5x7.

All the journaling was just copy pasted from my blog entries from each day. Which means some days had more than others…but..well…life could be worse! :)

While I had the camera out, I took some pictures of my favorite pages in my “normal” scrapbook to share. Just because it’s fun! :)

Show us your life... Favorite Books

So, I like to read. That really shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who knows me very well. I’m the kind of person (since I was little) that tries to find the thickest book at the bookstore so that it will last the longest- even though I KNOW that I will attempt to finish it in one sitting. Because that’s just who I am. So, this favorite books post is KIND OF a joke. Because honestly- I’ve read a lot, and I’ve liked a lot. So, this is just the beginning.

So, pictured above are some of the favorites from the ages. I’m an Elementary Education major. So, I like kids books. Dr. Seuss is quite possible my favorite. His ABC book is my absolute favorite one. The letter “Z” page is my favorite. :) And “Green Eggs and Ham”- I think I know it by heart. It’s possible I used it in a Sunday School lesson. Just because I could. And this kids LOVED it. Ha. :)

“To Kill a Mockingbird” is another favorite. Could be because I’m from Alabama. And could be because it’s awesome. My copy is SO worn out. I’ve read it a bazillion times. And yet…I still find neat things each time I read it. There could be a reason behind the fact I like the name Harper Leigh for a little girl. I’m not going to go into detail on that right now though.

I’m also a huge fan of Jodi Picoult and Nicholas Sparks. They’re pretty awesome to for “big people”.

So. Yeah. There’s my favorite books! That was fun!

You can pop on over to Kelly’s Korner to see other people’s favorite books too for Show Us Your Life- Favorite Books Editions! :)

“She’s a good girl…”

She’s a good girl, loves her mama
Loves Jesus and America too
Shes a good girl, crazy ’bout Elvis
Loves horses and her boyfriend too

And I’m free, free fallin’
Yeah I’m free, free fallin’

-“Free Falling” (John Mayer)

Confession: I have a new addiction. Named Pandora. Namely my Glee and *Nsync channels. Don’t laugh. They make great study music. I love how my Glee Channel goes from John Mayer, to some Little Mermaid, to Taylor Swift, to RENT. Um, thank you Pandora for respecting my wide range of musical interests.

Warning: Picture OVERLOAD ahead. Um. Sorry. I like taking pictures.

So, Sunday, since it was Mothers’ Day, we went on not one…but TWO picnics! The first one was after church before the nursing home. We always go to the nursing home on the second Sunday of every month. We went by Subway to grab lunch, then we went to the park to eat our first picnic. Then, we went on a short walk and took some pictures.

After the nursing home, we headed out to the lake to enjoy our second picnic. First, we went to Children’s Harbor to get some pictures by the pretty lighthouses. We were going to have our picnic there, but they had a bunch of no picnicking signs, so we couldn’t. It was sad.

So, since we couldn’t picnic there, we headed to another part of the lake where there’s a national park. Where we could picnic. And then, we had our picnic.

And…we took some more pictures (I took over 200 total! Imagine that!)

We even got daring and used the self-timer on the camera to try and get a family picture. (The camera was put on the picnic table.) It’s slightly out of focus, but I don’t think it’s too shabby!

So. That is Mothers’ Day. With the family.

I’ve probably bored you to tears by now. But, I have one more thing. Because I really don’t feel like trying to remember to blog this later.

This week’s LINK LOVE. :)

• Um. Pandora. Of course. As mentioned earlier…if I could marry a website…this might be it. I LOVE YOU PANDORA!! (How could I have forgotten you from Freshman Year??!)
• This post about Adoption really strikes a chord with me. As someone who wants to adopt sometime in the far away future, I want to remember this link so I can make sure I’m doing it for the right reasons. It’s all about the love, people. :)
• What this Dad did to try and communicate with his daughter that has CP is amazing. An Apple App really can do anything!
• This makes we want to learn to sew. Summer goal: Make this super cute dress. After all, I need to learn to sew so that I can clothe my 15 kids (Haha. Jk. Not really. Well. Maybe. We can discuss the number at a later moment in time.)
• I like FREE. Don’t know how long this will last, but as of this moment, you can get Angie Smith’s I Will Carry You on Ebook for um…free. And I LOVE me some Angie Smith and wanted to read this book. And since I don’t anticipate getting to BAM in the near future…um perfect. Thanks B&N!
• Spritual Growth. We all want it. How do you measure it?
• My “A Week in the Life” scrapbook is complete. It just needs to be photographed. But, you can see other people’s here.

And….I think that’s it for now. After all, I do have 2 finals tomorrow. I should probably get to studying. That would be a good thing, right?

Mother's Day 2010

Today is Mother's Day.

And I have the best Mommy in the whole wide world.

(For real.)

(Even though she's my only mommy.)

So.

Last year I made her a video and put it onto a DVD.

And she LOVED it.

And wanted me to post it on YouTube.

But, for some reason, the file extension didn't upload to YouTube.

So I couldn't.

So.

Fast forward to 2010.

This year.

I made her a video.

With new pictures.

And saved it on Windows Movie Maker.

Which, coincidentally is YouTube compatible.

So.

Mom.

I love you.

You rock.

You deserve chocolate

(But, I'm not going to give that to you. It's finals week.)

(I need it for myself)

So.

You get a YouTube video.

Happy Mother's Day! :)

Plan B- Book Review

If someone was to write a story that accurately describe what I’m feeling on the inside right now, I’m pretty sure that Plan B would be it. I mean, story of my life. In Plan B, Pete Wilson discusses what goes on in our hearts when God doesn’t show up the way we thought he would. How it’s not that God’s not showing up, it’s that he’s not doing it by our agenda. Because he has a plan that’s so much bigger and greater. Wilson explores a variety of biblical characters in the book and how they dealt with being placed in a Plan B situation. He describes what it means to let go of the situation and let God lead. Or say to God, “Not my will, but your will. I’m not in control. You are.” It’s a humbling situation.

I would highly recommend this book to…um all of yall. So, you need to go to that place called Amazon.com and place an order ASAP. I found this book to be a great devotional to read when I was doing a quiet time in my car in the mornings at school. Not a super hard read, but it’s pretty deep stuff. It also has a nifty little study guide in the back and I think it would make a great bible study- for any group. I was able to get stuff out of it as a college student, but I think youth and adults would also benefit. As I said before-um…story of my life.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

link love.

- Shaun Groves' blog posts never cease to make me think deeper. Even those "Bible Stories You Won't Hear in Sunday School". But, this one...just...well...go read it.

-Um. I just found this blog. Because she adopted a cute Korean kid. But then, God worked some awesome miracles in this family's lives. And now they need some prayer. So. Yeah. Go. Pray.

-Sweet Chrissie. She had heart surgery almost two weeks ago and is a miracle.

-Um. Need a laugh to lighten the mood now? Go here. This would be why Auburn is the best place ever. Um. Hello. Taylor Swift. :)

-I found another cupcake blog. Or, shall I say, I blog with a cupcake section. Still. You get the picture.

-So, I'm not gonna lie. This post made me laugh.

-And this video...kind of feels like story of my life sometimes. Maybe I need to sit back and let God take control sometimes.

-And...self promotion here. I'm now a tumblrer (is that even a word? it means "I tumbl" and not in gymnastics. i'm too clumsy for that). So. Yeah. if you're bored you can check it out. But, it's pretty boring. And..I'm not a huge fan. Just not my cup of tea.

-And while I'm at it...take a look at my class website. I created it for class. And yeah. I think it's pretty cool. :)