Do you toss out God's promises like junk mail?

YOU MAY ALREADY BE A WINNER!
Ever get one of those letters in the mail? Does anyone take Ed McMahon seriously? We label those letters as junk and toss them out without a second glance, thinking it's just a scam - someone trying to sell us something. Have you ever found yourself doing the same thing with God's promises? I wonder just how many times I've read a verse of scripture that tells me of the great blessings I already have and I just toss them out like junk mail, thinking there's some sort of 'catch'.

Skidder-mer-ink ee dink ee dink

skidder-mer-inky doo! Well, well, well. Where to begin?! Last you heard, I was working for the Puyallup Fair and waiting for classes to start again. Classes have been going for the past four weeks, and I'm on my last week of work for the fair.

How's that for an update? :)

I feel like I have direction for my life again. Current 5 year plan is as follows:

>Finish my AAS-T at CPTC this coming Spring. Woot!
>Continue Sign Language classes at Piece for Winter, Spring, & Summer quarters.
>Start the Interpreter Training Program at Seattle Central Community College in the Fall of 2010.
>Graduate from SCCC in 2012 (just shy of my 30th birthday, alright).
>Get Certified as a Registered Interpreter.
>Go on to study Christian Apologetics (possible getting a BA as one will be required of me to keep my Interpreter status).
>Begin to teach Apologetics to the Deaf Christian community to equip them to spread the Truth amongst themselves.

I really have no idea how all that is going to happen and it looks like quite a feat for someone who had no plans whatsoever of going on to 'higher' education, but none of that matters. I've been told that it's better to take action and maybe get it wrong than to take no action at all. So I'm taking action, because I think it's important.

If you dream of something worth doing and then simply go to work on it and don't think anything of personalities, or emotional conflicts, or of money, or of family distractions; it is amazing how quickly you get through those 5,000 steps.
-Edwin Land, co-founder of the Polaroid Corporation

PS. If you hear of anybody else who wants to bring Christian Apologetics to the Deaf, be sure to introduce me!

Favorite Fair Photo of the Day

Favorite Fair Photo of the Day

Give Me a Revelation - Third Day

My life has led me down the road that’s so uncertain
And now I am left alone and I am broken,
Tryin’ to find my way, tryin’ to find the faith that’s gone

This time, I know that you are holding all the answers
I’m tired of losing hope and taking chances,
On roads that never seem,
To be the ones that bring me home

Give me a revelation,
Show me what to do
Cause I’ve been tryin’ to find my way,
I haven’t got a clue
Tell me should I stay here,
Or do I need to move
Give me a revelation
I’ve got nothing without You
I’ve got nothing without You

My life has led me down this path that’s ever winding
Through every twist and turn I’m always finding,
That I am lost again (I am lost again)
Tell me when this road will ever end
Give me a revelation,
Show me what to do
Cause I’ve been tryin’ to find my way,
I haven’t got a clue
Tell me should I stay here,
Or do I need to move
Give me a revelation
I’ve got nothing without You
I’ve got nothing without

I don’t know where I can turn
Tell me when will I learn
Won’t You show me where I need to go
Oh oh
Let me follow Your lead,
I know that it’s the only way that I can get back home

Give me a revelation,
Show me what to do
Cause I’ve been trying to find my way,
I haven’t got a clue
Tell me should I stay here,
Or do I need to move
Give me a revelation
I’ve got nothing without You
I’ve got nothing without You

Oh, give me a revelation

I’ve got nothing without You
I’ve got nothing without You

Favorite Fair Photo of the Day

Tough Enough to Wear Pink

Favorite Fair Photo of the Day

This poor guy was totally defeated. But it made for a great photo.

Favorite Photo of the Day

Since I'll be taking lots of pictures while working at the fair, I thought I'd try to post my favorite shot of each day. Might be hard to choose just one but this one takes the cake! I guess this is why they call it Muttin' Bustin'.

Some change

School is finally over for the quarter but I won't be getting a real break. As of Monday morning I'll be working full time. Four weeks without homework will be nice though. I'm writing this from a BlackBerry Pearl flip. I'll let you know if I keep it. G'night!

Day 1 [thefair]

Transcript Begin:

Welp. Day one. I survived. Day one at the fair. New job. Haven't been working for a while, so. Little bit of pressure, just a little overwhelming. Sounds like I might be doing the job of three different positions kind of all squished into one. So it's a little bit crazy but I think I'll survive - yeah. Uh, the highlight of the day actually was as I went around being introduced to everybody, went through the storage room and in the back corner around a pile of stuff behind what I suppose was at one point a cubicle wall was uh Roland, the IT guy. He's pretty cool, nice to meet him. Now I know where to go if things get too crazy - a little hide-away - I'll go hangout with Roland for a little while. So, that was definitely the highlight of the day, um. If nobody would have shown me he was back there I would have never known there was a desk behind all that stuff. So - here's to you Roland!

:Transcript End.

Inspiring Young Entrepreneur

Oh my ears!

Quick question: Can a piece of lyrically free music be audibly offensive?

Goodbye Ol' Blue, Hello Metta

For the past year or so, Ol' Blue (aka Delilah), my faithful '91 Dodge Spirit has been ill and slowly falling apart. It's been rather sad to see because I really like that car. It may not be stylish or cool, or even very modern as it doesn't even have power locks, but it made me happy. That car was a huge blessing to me. My parents bought it for me during my senior year. It had had only one owner who was an older lady who rarely ever drove it, so it had ridiculously low mileage. She took care of the inside and the engine and accessories were all in great working order. That was back in 2000.

I have great memories with that car. I drove it from Washington to Ohio with my best friend and had quite the adventure. I drove it from Ohio to Pennsylvania to visit my dear friends the Millers and was so glad I was able to do so. It was the choice vehicle to drive me and my brother's family from Ohio to Georgia to visit my grandmother after she moved there. It's taken me on multiple missions trips and visits to Canada. It's carted me to Portland to visit Amy while she was in school. It's driven me safely home after staying up too late with the girls time and time again. It's been featured in home videos and actually made an appearance in a professional documentary filmed in Parkland. It was a character in a home made sitcom that some co-workers and I tried to create when I worked my favorite job at NPCC. This car has been there through it all these last 9 years. I will miss that car. But all these great memories point me not to the gift, but to the giver. God the Father made so many of those things possible all through the gift of a great car. And now he's done it again.

As the heat wave came through town, the temperatures just seemed too much for the Spirit. It overheated one too many times and it was finally decided the time had come to move on. I was able to see this coming, so a few weeks ago I began to ask the Lord to provide me with the transportation I would need. I know that God doesn't always provide things the way we might imagine them, so I knew perhaps another car wasn't the answer. I still put in my order for a car, however. Let me take you on a side note real quick, for those of you who don't know me as well. I do not deal well with change. In 8 years, I've had 3 cell phones. I only ever get a new one when the old one dies, breaks, or has no battery life. And everytime, I struggle to find a phone I will be happy with. It is stressful. My laptop is 7 years old and I'm about to trade it in. Imagine the possible stress of finding a car I'd like might cause. I was aware of this. In my prayers for a new car, I told God that I was trusting Him to find me a great deal and that I was going to choose to NOT freak out over the change. I prayed that I could find the same sort of deal that we did on my Dodge. I wished I could find my exact same car because I knew how much I liked it, but I thought it doubtful.

Two days ago, I decided to check Craig's List for what was available for cars in my area. I didn't want to spent more than $4k, but was willing to spend $5k. I marked a few cars I thought I'd like to look at before finding a listing that blew me away. It was love at first sight. "Are you looking for a Grandma's car that was hardly ever driven?" YES! I showed the listing to my dad, who laughed before realizing I was serious about this car. I called the dealer to find out when they close. Darn, they closed in 5 minutes. I had to wait nearly a whole day before going in, but I told the dealer I'd be there! So we showed up, and there it was. A 1991 Plymouth Acclaim. Twin sister to the Dodge Spirit. They were probably seperated at birth. This car had been owned by an older lady who hardly ever drove it. It has 99k miles on it. She had EVERY record of anything that was done to that car from fluid changes to towing to tires. She kept it neat and tidy. And it was HALF of my willing price. Not only did God bless me with a car in my budget, but he removed the stressful process of having to make a change. The salesman was wonderful and he even knocked off a couple hundred because I showed up when I said I would. I've been overjoyed at my Father's love for me.

Some people think it silly to name inanimate objects, but in this case I want to remember the story. I picked the Scandinavian name Metta which means "pearl". Not only does it sort of match the color of the car, but a pearl is a beautiful gift. And that's what this is. Also, the car came with Jetta mud flaps which I thought was hilarious.

I can't wait to find out what sorts of adventures and memories I'll have with this car!

Picture Your World

So, I don't normally post assignments here, but this one I really enjoyed. Both the process and the outcome. I have to say, I'm feeling pretty good about it. The assignment was to create a magazine cover from concept to print. Here's what I came up with:

Before summer's over

Hello again. It's me.

What do you mean, you don't remember me?

My brain is so fried from information overload in the past two weeks that I'm not sure I even know me anymore. Even the dog finds me highly boring. "Why don't you play with me anymore?" he says with his sad eyes starring up at me. I liked the idea of summer school. Getting out and having something to do during the day. Seemed like a pleasant way to spend the warmer days.

I may have been wrong.

It didn't occur to me that I wouldn't be able to enjoy those days with anyone else but textbook authors and word processors. "It's only a few weeks" I keep telling myself. It doesn't really help. It just reminds me that I have less time to get everything done.

Ever taken an online course? Don't. Unless it's the only one you're taking.

That's about all I can muster up to say right now. I figured it'd be nice to blog at least once before summer's over.

TTFN!

Speed 2

Yeah, that's right. Speed 2. Though this trip will really be nothing like that movie, I am pretty darn excited about it. I'll be sure to blog about it when I return in a week.

Meanwhile, Angela is at the hospital having her baby! Very cool. Wish I could be there.

Also, this past week we celebrated Maverick turning 2 years old. He's still such a baby!


TTFN!

Heeeeeeeeeeeere's Johnny!

Not sure why I said that.

I'm sure you've all noticed the recent prolonged hiatus from blogging that I've taken. It wasn't planned. Life just happened. I know - what a profound statement, right? Obviously, I've spent weeks being 'enlightened'. Actually, I've really been working on my stand up routine.

School's been quite the roller-coaster. I really enjoy the subject matter, just haven't been very impressed with the school itself. The bar seems to be set fairly low, and I'm the kinda person who expects a lot out of myself. Without proper training, I feel as though I'm being set up for disappointment.

Also, I think I may have caught Senior-itis this season. All kinds of bugs been going around. To think, I could have a handful of letters after my name by the end of the year. I'm also thinking of joining a sorority. Phi Theta Kappa - Beta Omicron Gamma Chapter.

I had a wonderful vacation at the beginning of the month with my whole family. I miss those guys. Someday the distance will be shorter (either physically or financially). I can't hardly stand to wait for those days.

This past weekend I enjoyed a long awaited girls night. I had been looking forward to that ALL year! What did we do? We talked all night!

My personal growth focus right now is my attitude. I want to be one of those people who are *almost* annoying in their positivity (or is it positiveness?). Either way, I'm trying to be on the plus side more consistently! The 'Triple D' (daily dork dance) does wonders for uplifting my attitude. I highly recommend it. It's usually best accompanied by an over dramatic and mushy lip-sync. Perhaps one day I'll make y'all a How To video.

Speaking of videos, if you haven't visited yet, check out my YouTube Channel @ www.OutofilmProductions.com

Details you might be interested in: I am currently working on 25 credits in my 3rd quarter. In a month I will tackle another 25 credits over the summer quarter. I'd like to take my final 25 credits in the fall so I can graduate sooner, but it's looking as though I may end up going into the winter quarter (depends on how crazy I am).

When the family all gets together...

{click to make larger}

We sure are a good looking bunch, ain't we?

Photo Friday

Things have been a bit crazy for me lately so that's why you haven't seen any real blogging this month. But here's an old baseball picture from my glory days. I miss it :(

Photo Friday

Ever been left on the side of the road in Romania with a bag of flowers and a loaf of bread?