Bipartisan Politics, Krispy Kreme, Patriotism, and the Miracle of Life

A lot of this info is dated... but worth mentioning. I attended a Political Debate between Richard Perle and Howard Dean 2 Thursdays ago. The tension between parties was VERY evident in the audience which is interesting because both Dick and Howie are Democrats. The topic of the debate was National Security Post 9/11. I was right up by the front and the crowd was so disrespectful, constantly heckling and at one point, when Perle was speaking a man rushed the stage threw his shoes at him and started calling him a f-ing liar and many many other nasty things. The guy was like 3 feet away from me and some men in front and to the sides of me tackled him to the floor and then physically removed him from the building. His apparent anger broke my heart. http://www.katu.com/stories/75077.html Then I got to thinking... they didn't do any weapon checks at the door! Good thing he didn't have anything but shoes!

Less than 2 years ago, Krispy Kreme stock was going for $50 per share. It is now at $5 dollars per share. I guess people are learning how to respect their arteries.

There is an ENORMOUS U.S. Flag that stands at a Harley Davidson Dealership on the 205 Freeway. Each time I drive by, I am overwhelmed with a feeling of patriotism. I was disgusted to find that last week someone shredded the flag and left the vandalized remains on the flagpole for the morning commuters to see. Whether it is vandalism or a political statement, it is equally disturbing. If it is vandalism... pick a different target. The flag should NOT be messed with. I know that I live in Portland, and Portland is very Anti-Bush But if it IS a political statement, that pisses me off because the flag is a symbol of our country... not our president. You gotta leave THAT alone!

Katti had her baby yesterday. I watched the birth... from start to finish! It was the most incredible, awe-inspiring event that I have ever seen in my life. When I mentioned the possibility of me sitting in on the birth to Katti 2 weeks ago, I wasn't sure I would even follow through with it assuming she would let me be in there. No details... but it was fascinating! And I am both humbled and honored to have had the opportunity to experience the miracle of life first hand. And Katti... she has been elevated to the strongest woman in the world!

It's a Girl!

Well, my baby sister had a baby yesterday. It was a long day of sitting in the waiting room with the whole family. Kalli ended up having a c section, so that wasn't fun, but she and little Emma Rose are doing fine.

In the waiting room there was a guy who was visiting another new mom. He was wearing a Hooters shirt. I didn't think much of it until his buddy walked in wearing a shirt identical to the other. I laughed under my breath and muttered to my family (and Kalli's husband's family) "dare me to say something?" I left it alone for a while and then when the gentlemen were walking by me, I looked over and said, "Oh, matching Hooters shirts... how cute." They immediately attempted to justify who copied who and why it was ok that they were wearing matching shirts. My family was not surprised, Alex's was family shocked. I was satisfied.

I am completely overwhelmed and I don't like it. I feel like my life is disorganized, out of control and I feel like I am going to forget something HUGE.

A freshman knocked on my door this evening and said, "Hi Trae, I am pledging Alpha Zeta..." to which I replied "No, you may not have a pair of my underwear." He smiled and walked off. That is the third time that I have been approached by little fraternity pledges asking for my unmentionables. I am thinking about buying a stash of granny panties. But somehow, I don't think that would suffice.

I don't like country music. Could someone explain to me why my radio has been gravitating toward stations that play songs that I cannot relate to at all such as "Redneck woman" and "The Broken Road" and "Whiskey Girl?" Although, it helps me make use of the 12 programmable stations in my car. And I suppose there are a few redemptive songs like "Everything gets hotter when the sun goes down" and "save a horse, ride a cowboy." I guess it is time to bust out the Wranglers and Ropers, eh. Not quite.

"What the World Needs Now is Love, Sweet Love"

It's Valentines Day. I just worked out, ate dinner and took a bath by candlelight. On Valentines day there seem to be two types of people that emerge. The lovey dovey couples who use every free minute of their day to make last minute preparations for tonight... finish cooking, pick up flowers, what have you. Then there are the people who randomly insert "I hate Valentine's Day" into their conversations throughout the day.

Well, I am pretty ambivilent when it comes to V Day this year. I am not lovey dovey, making last minute preparations but I refuse to boycott something as beautiful as LOVE, something that there is "just too little of." So... for those of you who are free to indulge in love and all that comes with that in the romantic sense... indulge away. For those who are waiting for that specific kind of love, spread a little love to the rest of the people around you. Chances are, they need it. I love you! I mean... I don't LOVE you, but I love you!

On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand

His wife said it best, "Christ is the Rock for me... and THAT is where I am standing." Before I heard anything, I saw it on the news. The pastor of the church where a large percentage of our Christian students go reported a robbery attempt in which 2 males attacked him resulting in some pretty good knife wounds. Yesterday, he confessed that after inflicting the wounds on himself he had fabricated the story and now he is facing charges of false reporting that could land him some jail time and a pretty hefty fine. His wife leads my Bible study. I haven't seen her yet, and I can't imagine how she is handling it but meanwhile I am left with students who are confused, frustrated, heart broken and feel lied to. This is a good reminder that Christ NEEDS to be our Rock, our Foundation that will never crumble. I have said it a hundred times and I will say it probably a thousand more. Humans will fail us 99 out of 100 times but CHRIST will NEVER fail us. People need to stop exalting spiritual leaders and placing them on pedestals and realize that they are human too. It's funny, there were four news stories on the 6:00 news yesterday that were dealing with Spiritual leaders who had failed. I am reminded that their sin is no different than mine... mine's just not plastered on the front of every newspaper. Thank GOD!!
All I have for now... k bye!

His name is Hunter

My date for the "Senior" Prom 

A few weeks ago we put on a prom for the senior citizens in the community. Hunter wouldn't leave me alone all night. He would see me across the room and make a bee line for me, grab my arm, say "let's dance!" and drag me out on the dance floor. Too bad most men my age aren't that assertive. Speaking of men... I have resigned myself to the reality that Kerri, finding herself in a committed relationship sealed for eternity, will continue to live vicariously through me until she succeeds in sealing my fate. Woman, you are lucky I have a good sense of humor about this whole e harmony thing. But don't think I won't be punching you in the neck as soon as I see you in Nashville in April. It's coming....

p.s. notice the snowflake necklace.

Be Thou My Vision

At the end of my quiet time this morning I put in the CD Wendy sent me. The last song on that CD is my favorite hymn, Be Thou My Vision. My thoughts wandered to my friend Emily. The last time I sang this song was at her memorial service. At that moment I felt very connected to both Emily and Wendy. I just googled Emily's name to see if I had missed anything about her death. I found that I had missed something, not about her death but about her life. Read these articles and you will have a glimpse into the life of my beautiful friend. www.thefalcononline.com/story/4360 and www.thefalcononline.com/story/4349 Today, I am thankful for the fabulous female friends that God has placed in my life. Ladies!!! I love you!

"You are a delicious marshmallow!"

Mmmmm.... s'mores! 

My nephew came to visit and while he was here, we roasted delicious marshmallows over the fireplace in the University Center.

Go Patriots!

I just decided that I would root for the team that all of my boys are against. Whenever the patriots make a good play I stand to my feet and put my hand over my heart. Then Ben tries to tackle me. He hasn't had the balls to actually take me down yet. We shall see. I haven't decided if I am staying here for the whole game. I am at the "Christian Superbowl Party" on campus. I was getting a little frustrated earlier cause the band that is playing for half-time was warming up during pre-game and I missed it. I could see Alicia Keys and her mouth was moving but all I could hear was the crooning of middle-aged men. I couldn't hear a thing. So, I guess I am going to be forced in the next 8 min and 27 sec too choose what is more important to me today... God or Paul McCartney. Well, of course God is always more important to me. I did skip church this morning so I think I will opt for worship band half-time show. i am feeling a LITTLE better today. Kerri, I will call you soon.

I want my mommy!

I don't feel good. I always want my mommy when I get sick. I am sure a boy would do, but neither of those are readily available options so I will just suck it up and take care of myself. I am getting pretty good at taking care of myself. I actually bought a thermometer today. Pneumonia, the flu, bronchitis... I've seen it all. Illness is running rampant here and it just continues to spread. My residence hall is nothing but a huge petri dish. It's disgusting!

My day consisted of three loads of laundry, Garden State (excellent), the last episode of Dawson's Creek season four, a short journal entry and conversations with Mom, Kerri, Eric and Travis.

Thinking about the disconnect between my faith in a sovereign God and my dependence on myself to "make the right decision." At what point to I just trust and stop trying to be in control? Can I?

A new adventure

The weather at the beach was BEAUTIFUL today. Laura and I hiked 7 miles from seaside to cannon beach. It had taken us 3 hours and it was 4:00 so we knew that if we hiked back the last 2 hours would be in the dark. To avoid the risk of tumbling off the cliff into the crashing waves below, we realized that we would have to brave a new adventure. I have always thought that it would come easily and imagined my first time being unforgettable, but when it came to me actually having to stick my thumb out to attract an approaching car the awkwardness of the whole situation set in. You wouldn't believe the number of people who simply avoided eye contact. One surfer girl stopped and chatted with us. She was sympathetic to our stranded state but since she was headed the opposite way I let her get away, assuring her that we would find someone. Oh well, she was probably insane anyway... afterall she WAS surfing in February... in OREGON! Many people passed us by. A big thanks to Jesse and Wendy who finally picked us up and dropped us off right by our car. It was a very pleasant experience to say the least and no one was harmed. But please don't tell my mom!

Speaking of my mom. I called her yesterday and left a message CLEARLY stating that I was just calling to say "hello." My evening got busy and upon returning to my apartment after a trip to the gym I found that she had called 3 times and left 2 messages each sounding increasingly more irritated at my failure to answer my phone. I called her back and expressed my irritation with her irritated messages to which she told me that she had called "the girl who lives where I lived last year..." My mother... calling anyone she can possible think of to track me down... I AM FREAKING 25 YEARS OLD! I let her know that it is not okay to call other people to track me down unless the time between conversations exceeds 3 hours. Then Jason called me when I was watching American Idol. I didn't answer and he left a pissed off message, "Trae, do you ever freaking answer your phone?" I am going to start leaving my phone at home just to irritate them.

I heard that crossword puzzles are good for exercising the brain. I am not sure if it is true or not, but I have decided to pick it up. So far I suck at them. Oh... My friend Wendy sent me a CD with 5 of her songs. She is incredible and I am sure that she is going to be a rock star someday. Buy her CD's!

I was going to go see a movie tonight but I got sidetracked and ended up at Target instead. I thought I would catch a later show but when the time rolled around, I wasn't really in the mood. I returned home to an episode of Dawson's Creek (never the same without you, Jillicious). Not looking forward to waking up tomorrow. I am going to be hella sore! Well... I'm out!

If my life were a book...

...my best friend could write it. Or at least she'd think she could. Today she decided to take my dating life into her own hands and, against my will, she set up a profile for me at eharmony.com. Don't believe me? Check out her blog http://asacredplace.blogspot.com/ . Personally I'd rather not have to EVER tell anyone that I met my good friend/boyfriend/husband on the internet, maybe that is just me being self righteous, but still... it's me.

I used my femininity today. I took my car in for a water leak in the floor. Over the phone I mentioned that I would appreciate it if they replaced my carpet. Jason asked me sarcastically "you want us to replace your carpet?" to which I replied, "um... I don't really want a brand new car that smells like mildew!" When I took my car in this a.m. I got dolled up... pretty good for 7 am... I even put on lipstick! My charm must have worked because he called me later and told me that he was going to replace that carpet for me (like it was HIS idea). Jason was quite friendly when I went to pick up my loaner in jeans and tennis shoes... I guess the impression lasted. btw... driving the civic they gave me sure makes me appreciate my car... is good purchase!!

Reading the Christian Culture Survival Guide. You should pick it up... but be careful. It may offend you. Tomorrow I am taking the afternoon off of work. Going hiking with Laura.