Fluoridation Is The Most Monstrously Conceived and Dangerous Communist Plot

After hours and hours of delays and a long dinner with my parents and Mr. & Mrs. Eades, I stood at the end of the escalator anxiously awaiting the return of our beloved ex-patriot compatriots. My eyes tear’d over with boundless joy when I spied Dwight’s humongous halo of hair, and I charged him like a Raging Bull ready to strike the matador… or his wife (that one’s for you, Jamie). I buried my face so deeply into Dwight’s buxom chest that I failed to see Erin walk right past me. Turns out that I suck as a boyfriend- not that the past four years hadn’t proven that already…

I drove Erin home in my parents’ Lexus and was, as Keith would later describe, “giddy as a little kid” – so giddy, in fact, that I found it unreasonably difficult to keep my eyes from drifting to the pretty girl on my right. As you may know, when a driver’s eyes drift to the right, the car tends to do the same- a fact that was not lost on the officer behind me, who promptly pulled me over.

“I noticed you were swerving a little bit back there, and I just wanted to make sure that everything was okay,” announced the Fuzz.

“Sorry, I just picked up my girlfriend, and I haven’t seen her in six and a half months, so I’m a little excited,” I stammered exceptionally excitedly.

“You couldn’t wait until you got home?”

“I’m…. just…. excited…” I declared just as extraordinarily excitedly as before. After confirming that we had just come from the airport, the Man in Blue let us continue on our way, to revel in our excitement until we passed out watching Steve McQueen steal the heart of his leading lady both on and off screen (bonus points to anyone who can name the movie!).

Good tidings to you and your kin. See you in Chattanooga, but first, bring me a drink of pure grain alcohol and rain water.

Update from Kris

Someone (Brian) once told me- in reference to housing- "Ethiopia is such a breeze compared to the states. You have no idea." I would like to emphatically disagree based on my first night in my new Ethiopian house.

So, it had been a great night. Had dinner with the landlord family, Jen called, and I was doing some reading before bed. Out of the corner of my eye, I see something run across the floor. As it turns out, it's a massive rat. Some of you will be proud to know that I didn't scream. But I could have. Very loudly.

The night turns into an effort to get him out. I almost squashed him once by slamming the door as he was crawling along the top of it, but then chickened out. At another point I thought that he was out, only to find him back in my room a few hours later. He found a hole. Or rather, many holes. I would stuff one, only to see him coming back in through another. If I didn't see him, I heard him… or imagined that he was crawling on me in my sleep. Definitely a breeze.

But don't worry! I was ready and waiting with my Amharic dictionary opened to 'mouse' when landlord mom came out at 6am this morning! She, obviously, thought this was hilarious. But the holes have been stuffed, the mosquito net hung so it can't eat me, and the cat is sleeping with me tonight. And I'm bonding with the family. We're off to a good start.

Things really are going well. The last two weeks have been awesome as far as relationships here go. And God has been pretty cool too. I had decided that my method for getting through the holidays was going to be not to acknowledge them. I was quickly reminded that it's really not about me. Some awesome Christmas music (including It Came Upon a Midnight Clear. Weird) was forced upon me and then an Advent reading guide from Mountain Brook Community circa 2006 mysteriously appeared. I have no idea how this made it to Ethiopia, but there it was. I've been reading through it and it's been awesome to focus on the prophecy and sovereignty leading to Christ's birth.

In other news… I miss you guys! You should know that the first thing I did upon moving in was hang family pictures all over my house. You are all well-represented and often laughed at by visitors. Hope you're all having Happy Holidays and enjoying wrapping up the semester/ getting a good break from work! Hopefully I'll be talking to most of you soon…? Much love!

Finally Over

While watching Man vs. Wild last night I was keenly reminded of my experience in med school this semester. Bear was attempting to climb down a waterfall and holding on to a vine for dear life while thousands of pounds of water were crashing against him threatening to send him plummeting to the rocks below. Somehow, my experience of sitting in a lecture hall while my unrelenting professors threw countless amounts of material at me seemed very familiar to Bear's situation. Fortunately, just as Bear eventually reached the bottom of the fall unscathed, I have now made it through one of the most stressful weeks of my life and am done with my first semester of med school. And despite what Brian may tell you, it actually is as hard as people make it out to be. The unfortunate part about it is they like to cram all the things that make it really hard into about 2 days and it was pretty much all I could do to keep my sanity...I think I lost it for a few hours.

In other news, I finally got a ring for Kimberly. We didn't have one until just recently because we were waiting on some details to work out with a ring that she had in her family, but that kinda fell through so we went and got one! Thought I would let you all see it.

The Move-In: A Tale of Toil

dear friends and famil- er, friends and friends:

my dad, my grandpa, and i are driving my crap down to birmingham today, and moving it into my new place tomorrow. the offer of buying a coke or pepsi product for each or any of you as remuneration for your assistance in transferring the aforementioned crap into the aforementioned apartment (townhouse, technically, which was not aforementioned) still stands. my grandpa can't help carry stuff in because of recent back surgery, and my dad technically can, but really shouldn't, because he has a bad back (genetics? probably. woot). i know many of you have employment obligations during the days, but if you don't... help would be awesome. won't take very long at all with even 1 or 2 people helping.

sincerely indebted to the hoped-for help of you, the reader...

-brian

This one's for Brian

"'W00t,' a hybrid of letters and numbers used by gamers as an exclamation of happiness or triumph, topped all other terms in the Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year online poll that best sums up 2007." (Source: Express, a publication of the Washington Post)

Ohhhh. So that's what Brian's been doing - all this time, Brian has been summing up 2007!

it's a boy!!!

...cott. it's a boycott. of a few things, actually.

tonight, david and i learned (via "Planet Earth") that blue whales weigh 400,000 pounds. i repeat: 400-freakin-thousand pounds. for the record, that's more than the mass of mount everest (please don't look that up-- just take my word on it, or else my argument won't be very strong). is anyone else disturbed by this? is anyone out there willing to join me in boycotting this fact? incredulous masses, unite!

another thing i'll be boycotting, and i urge you to join in the cause-- Neopolitan ice cream. why? because i learned something else on tv tonight: girls in Napels sometimes invite ancient corpses (whose remains are hanging on the walls of some famous tomb) to their weddings... for good luck. i don't trust ice cream made by people like that... even if it's free with any meal at the Old Spaghetti Factory. [To Kara and Ryan: if you invite a dead guy to the wedding, and he shows up... i swear on his own grave that i'll kill him.]

and also Madonna. apparently her image is "omnipresent" in Napels. that can't be right-- "omnipresent"? somebody (i.e., the narrator) must be a HUGE (we're talking blue whale sized) fan of 80's/90's controversial pop stars. but i'm boycotting Madonna just incase she really is as present as God in Napels. because that's messed up. and while i'm at it, i'm boycotting the narrator for his overexaggeration... and for his overuse of the word "the": he keeps saying it in front of Madonna's name. "The Madonna." what's with that? she changed her name to one word for a reason.

oh, and studying for finals. i'll be boycotting that, too.

You can't hide

So I was poking around the list of posts on our blog, and I found one that Emily started, but never posted. Wow, I wish she had. It's only a little ridiculous:

Happy Halloween from the Remarkables!
get it? kinda like the Incredibles, only with an R, for Remington, or Remarkable... that was Eric's doing, and he was pretty proud of it. The costumes were mostly my doing... I was equally proud of my craftiness. It was hilarious. Thought y'all might get a kick out of that one- we miss you all!

strange who you see in this city

i shared an elevator yesterday with this guy



anyone recognize him?
i miss you guys!

advent

-noun
1.a coming into place, view, or being; arrival

I remember when i was little, just loving the song It Came Upon A Midnight Clear. there was something so eerie and beautiful about it. tonight i fell in love with it again. and i wanted to share it. read it a few times. it gets better every time. especially the last two verses. enjoy:)

It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold:
"Peace on the earth, goodwill to men
From heavens all gracious King!"
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing.

Still through the cloven skies they come,
With peaceful wings unfurled;
And still their heavenly music floats
O'er all the weary world:
Above its sad and lowly plains
They bend on hovering wing,
And ever o'er its Babel sounds
The blessed angels sing.

O ye beneath life's crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow;
Look now, for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing;
Oh rest beside the weary road
And hear the angels sing.

For lo! the days are hastening on,
By prophets seen of old,
When with the ever-circling years
Shall come the time foretold,
When the new heaven and earth shall own
The Prince of Peace, their King,
And the whole world send back the song
Which now the angels sing.

This American Life

I often listen to podcasts while I work, and I just listened to a really cool episode of "This American Life," an hour-long, documentary-style radio show on NPR. This episode had two acts. Here's the description:
"Stories about unintended consequences of market forces. A Tulsa businessman tries to cut costs by bringing workers from India to Tulsa. And two competing TV news teams in Boise, Idaho, begin with the same set of facts and end up with opposite conclusions."

Both were really good, and both relate to things some of us care about, ahem, Jamie and Aaron. So, if you have some time to listen, you can download the podcast for free from Itunes. It's the most recent episode, #344: The Competition.

I made a map of us.

I like making maps, so I made a map of where we are. If you aren't on it, it's because you never added yourself to the Contacts List. There's also a full-sized version. You can double-click to zoom. Zoom in to Kristen's village and turn-on the Aerial imagery for a glimpse at Ethiopian life.

So

I miss everyone of ya'll.

Wow!

So, I'm sitting here in my basement with more exams to be studying for than I know what to do with, and I just looked at the clock and realized I've been reading blog notes for the past hour and a half!!! Where have I been? I remember the original email coming out announcing this blog...and sadly after signing on and reading the first post, that's all I knew of the blog. I sat here reading through all that has been happening in all of your lives and tears came to my eyes! I feel like even at Samford (and especially since graduation) I hung out with you guys (the "thirty travelers" :) a good bit, but due to some bad timing and missing some 'key' events (yes....such as the 'thirty travelers' trip!) I haven't always maintained contact. Anyway, I know it's not something anyone would notice, but I just wanted to let you guys know I have thoroughly enjoyed reading about your lives through these blogs - and all the other blogs linked to this one. Wow - y'all have some exciting lives! I wish I had some amazing update with what life is like for me, but I know it won't be of much surprise to any of you to find out that i spend a lot of my time here in Nashville studying :( But I still manage to spend a pretty substantial amount of time with Grady :) and I have gotten to know some amazing girls in my nursing program as well as have incredible roommates - I think it's a much more balanced life than I had at Samford (Matt...you'd be proud :) I sometimes wish I had realized that earlier and had more time at Samford to spend with you guys!

Hopefully see some of you soon! I stumbled upon some pictures earlier from the tacky christmas party at the girls' house last year and it sure made me smile :) Merry (early) Christmas!

officialityness

for anyone who doesn't know already... i'm officially moving back to birmingham and starting at uab in january. i'm hoping to move down on december 14th-- so anyone who's gonna be around and feels like helping me unload that day... i'll buy you a coke (or beer, if that's what you're into). kindof broke right now or i'd offer everyone 2 cokes (or beers). housing is as-of-yet undetermined. i may try and make a trip this friday/saturday to look for some different options. that's about it for now-- gotta go resign my post as barrista-extraordinaire and cram for a calculus test. hope you're all doing well. later.

Rice for Vocab

I stole this from a friend's blog, who actually stole it from someone else's, but it's cool none-the-less.

It's a vocab quiz, and every time you get a work correct, they will donate the equivalent of 10 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program.

So... learn some new words and help end world hunger!

Jamie is a dork

I just gave Jamie a bottle of beer and a bottle opener. She took the corkscrew and tried to open the beer with it. What a dork.
[aside] Left Hand Brewing Company's "Milk Stout" is delicious.

Remember remember the 7th of November

ok so apparently I have the most amazing friends and family in the world, but I will get back to that, first let me go and fill you in on some of the awesome 5th of November things. Many of you received a message from me to commemorate that amazing day. I wrote that at about 1 am right before I headed to work... ( oh yeh I now work as an associate producer part time from 2-5 am, 5 days a week) During this job, later that fay I was able to pick the trivia question for the day, which was something like "what movie is loosely based off an event on this day back in 1605, where a man tried to blow up parliament" The answer of course was V fr Vendetta.

So everyone knows, I did not spray paint anything on Samford's campus, but I do think those people are awesome! I hear somebody already tried to turn me in though, so we'll see what happens.

Then that night of course I watched that most amazing of movies, and was impressed as ever... I may have cried with joy... just a little.

The next morning (or afternoon) when I woke up, I walked out of my room, and my dad had taken my phone out of my room. I asked him about it, and he said he had needed to get the number of a family friend. So I went to work (because I had awoken late) and was not getting back til 10:30 I instead returned at 9, because it was slow that day, and my parents made me a plate for supper, and had some presents for me. They also had a cake and we're waiting for me to get done eating before we ate that. Well about 15 minutes into my meal, Daniel Mills and his fiancee Katie, came to the door, and I thought, oh that's really nice of Daniel to come by and wish me a happy birthday. a few minutes later Jamie and Matt came in... which is when I thought.... "wait a minute here... " And so yeah people kept coming, and all of you are awesome! I wish everyone could have been there.

Apparently when my dad had taken my phone that morning, he had actually taken it to call the people on my phone list, and ask them to call other people to come to this party. I asked how my dad had gotten my phone with out waking me, and he said he crawled into the room on his belly. :) Though this would have raised some serious questions, if I had woken up and seen him crawling on his belly in my room, he got away with it, and I was quite suprised. Thanks to all of you for being awesome friends! I love you all, and thanks for all the calls and messages that have made this a comepletely stupendous birthday.

Kris has become "that girl," and it's all your fault

i'm pretty sure all of you are aware that i sent a package with notes from a whole bunch of kristen's friends (you guys) a while back. well, mail being speedy as it is, kris apparently got the package on monday and wanted me to share these words with the 30 travelers:

"i wish i had words. you guys are incredible. we went into addis today and got mail for the first time in about a week and a half. when i opened it and realized what you all had done... tears. lots of tears. everyone agreed that i had the most amazing friends in the world. through the sobs i was like, 'they're not fr-fr-friends. they're family!' i've become that girl. the emotional one. what's going on?

i don't have a lot of time right now, but i wanted to say thank you. so much. you can't know how much good that did my heart. know that i savored your words, read them slowly, more than once. and i'll probably fall asleep reading them tonight. i'm going tomorrow to buy the post office out of stamps... I freakin' love you guys."

it's (un)official

all morning i've had the theme song from "family matters" stuck in my head. that's fine-- it's a happy enough song. the problem is that i have a song called "facade" from jekyll & hyde stuck in my head simultaneously... so i keep randomly singing bits from one and then pieces from the other. it's miserable.

and matt... i don't wanna suffer alone... so "that's me in the corner." there, now i'm not alone. let me know when that song gets out of your head.

now that that's out of the way...

yesterday i got a call from UAB telling me to "start looking for housing for the spring semester," but "don't sign a lease until you've received our official letter, which we're still preparing." the words "accepted" and "admitted" were not used during the phone call... but it seems like an acceptance. not sure why else they'd bother to call and tell me to look for housing and that they're preparing an official letter for me.

so-- barring extreme circumstances, i'll hopefully be accepted officially sometime soon. and i'll keep you posted.

thanks for the prayers.

For Now We See Through Glass Darkly, But Then...

I never cease to be amazed at the goodness of God or how little I know about Him and His ways.

We (the illustrious members of the unfortunately named "Big Time Ministries") held our bi-annual retreat for the junior high students, the fifth installment was dubbed Bravehearts, this past weekend, and I, more than a week later, have still not quite found the ability to articulate the ways in which God moved or all that He showed me. First, it was simply unreal- we had 130 boys from Mountain Brook Junior High School, plus 30 of mine and Coach Skip's high school guys come as leaders. Something only explainable as supernatural happened at Camp Mac, and thirty-one of those students said that they, that very weekend, had finally understood what it truly meant that Jesus died for them.

These high school guys were so pivotal; we held a meeting four days before we left and cast a vision for them- essentially letting them lead (with some guidance) and explaining to them how they could have such a tremendous impact for the Kingdom. They caught it, and it was incredible. They loved on the kids, mixed up with them during lunch, team times, stayed in their cabins, worshipped alongside them, asked them the hard questions, and, most importantly, portrayed Christ to them. That, more than anything else, was the most striking difference about last weekend. Two of my eleventh graders, including Alex, a student I mentioned in a previous blog who became a Christian a mere two months ago, shared their testimonies, and the j-high students are still talking about them...

It also got me thinking- wait, wait, have I so often overlooked one of my primary roles as a Christian? To cast a vision for others about how they can make an impact for Christ in this life? Isn't that what disciple-making is all about? Simply saying: The light of Christ is in you, now here's how to best let it shine that you might ignite a spark in others? And so often I am foolish enough to believe that I have been saved merely for my own sake, instead of catching a glimpse of God's greater plans at work...

Apologizing for my inability to be anything other than either ultra-serious or utterly inane- Matt

things i'm learning

just a brief outline of some things i've learned lately. i hope this is an edifying read that prepares you all for tip-top performance should you find yourselves in similar/identical situations.

(1) of the 2 steam wands on the espresso machine, seasoned starbucks veterans are only talking about the one on the right when they say, "don't be afraid of bumping it-- it's not hot." it turns out the one on the left is around 170 degrees (Fahrenheit), and you should be terrified of bumping it. The right side of the middle segment of my right index finger challenges all who disagree to prove it.

(2) kellogg's new holiday poptarts flavor-- gingerbread-- does not, in fact, taste like gingerbread. and if you buy two boxes because you get excited when you see them in the store... you're making a mistake. i learned the hard way, so that you can learn the easy way.

(3) skipping biochemistry classes is still a bad idea, even if you have already completed a bachelor's degree.

(4) the best way to cope with waking up at 4:15 a.m. for work is to take a shower during which you move very, very slowly. or else you're gonna feel like you might puke for the next hour or so.

(5) barnes & noble is significantly harder to study at when they play electronic rock remixes of opera arias and christmas songs over the PA system

(6) drinking scotch before bed may/may not cause you to hallucinate and think a rat is attacking you. still haven't figured that one out.

(7) forgetting your car window doesn't seal at the top-- and having nothing handy to stop the leak (nay, deluge) when you go through the carwash on the way to work-- is a great way to break the ice with coworkers, who have apparently never seen anything funnier than a guy who's clothes are wet from head to toe on only the left side of his body.

(8) answering the phone to talk to Triple A about your keys being locked in your car probably goes better when you aren't in a haunted house surrounded by out-of-work actors with chainsaws.

(9) the guy placing an order at the drive through just saw the "most beautiful woman [he's] ever saw" at the Speedway station across the street. that's right... "that there girl" stole my customer's heart... and his beautiful kentucky grammar "aint leavin' mine unstoled neither."

and (10)... blogging is still a great excuse to forego your Multivariable Calculus homework.

woot.

Broken Arms

I've been in Virginina for almost 2 weeks now and so far I've had lectures on legal forms (creating a will, a power of attorney, planning my funeral), insurance (they'll even air-vac me if they need to), and banking stuff...I've also had sessions on spiritual warfare and doctrines. I really enjoyed both of these lectures and learned a lot about the foundations of what I believe...

But one thing that I became thankful for this week was God's divine appointments: I had to go into town to get my blood drawn (so they'd know what kinda blood to give me when they air-vac me to india). While I was standing in line, a lady walked in with a cast on her arm, similar to the one I had to wear last year when I broke my arm (this sat. marks the 1 year anniversary of the arm break...i think my scar is still shrinking). So I began talking to this lady and asked her how she broke her arm and if she'd had surgery. I showed her my scar and told her about my accident. Her face lit up and a sense of relief filled her as she sighed and said, "I am so glad you are here. There are so many things I have been wanting to ask someone about the recovery process and physical therapy and the scar!" Thank you, Lord. So, I answered all of her questions...she wanted to know how long it took me to fully recover; I told her I did a cartwheel a month and a half post surgery. She was shocked.

Anyway, I was able to share with her things I learned about myself and that God taught me during my period of rehab. This led into a long conversation about faith and explaining why I believe what I believe and how God has always proven faithful. And I was able to share what I'm training to do and why I'm doing it. She shared some prayer concerns she had, we exchanged email addresses, and went on our way both refreshed...her because she'd met someone who'd gone through what she's going through and survived; me because i'd had the chance to share my faith with someone.

Part of our training has been to share our story, our testimony, to at least three people every week. So, I'll be honest, I was looking and praying for opportunities to share my faith with someone. And whatdayaknow? God provided an opportunity. It made me sad to think of all the opportunities God has probably placed before me to share His truth that I've passed up. So, I'm challenging myself and you to pray for an opportunity to boldly share your faith with someone...someone you might not know.

Ok. That's all the sermon I've got for now. I feel like I'm back in college. We play sports all the time and hang out 24/7...i think it's worse than last semester. All that being said, must go play flag football now. ciao.

Sad, sad, sad

Brian T. Murphy's blog has some very sad news for some of us:
http://briantmurphy.blogspot.com/2007/11/sad-sad-news.html.

so don't tell my parents...

but i got the official word yesterday that i'll be staying in DC with Bread for the World at least til the end of June! yaaaaayy! i unfortunately haven't made it around to telling my family yet, so keep those lips tight! (since i know you all chat with johnny and debbie on a daily basis) i'm really excited about the news, which is a great thing, because if i had been told i was staying at the end of last week i think feelings would have been very mixed. i went through this spell of reflective loneliness and was missing you all more than ever - plus i wasn't sure if i was contributing anything really meaningful at work, but God is good and is again assuring me that I am where He wants me.

in other news, i saw nancy pelosi (speaker of the house) at the capitol building this week, i went an entire day eating nothing but ice cream (and a lot of it!), and i talked with/listened to a homeless man for at least half an hour at the post office on thursday. i plan to post on my blog about the conversation sometime soon. when asked for his name, he told me, "I am the mountain of zion." i've never met a mountain before.

i also talked to kristen just now on the phone. she's doing well - keep praying for her!
your friendship is so special to me. i love and miss you all!

sorry to post about the same thing for a second time... but my dad just called with an update, and it's got me pretty worried now. at this point, there are 14 separate wildfires in southern california... and they've just evacuated tons of houses in the town next to ours. my friend peter's back yard is on fire and they're trying to keep it from reaching his/the neighbors' houses. they've closed down one of the highways that runs through my town b/c the smoke is too thick to see enough to drive, and ashes are falling on our street. so far authorities say my town is still okay... but we have several close friends who've already had to evacuate. so... yeah, please keep praying about it.

pray that my house doesn't burn down.

my dad called today to tell me that there are pretty bad wildfires happening back home right now. they've already burnt thousands of acres, and so far there hasn't been any luck containing them because it's the Santa Ana Winds season (hot dry winds with windspeeds that are faster than you drive sometimes) and the winds are blowing the flames all over the place. today the fires changed direction, and they're now heading toward the cluster of cities where i'm from. no real threat yet, but if yall could just pray for safety for my friends and my family, and for everyone out there in general.

thanks.

Oh Samford alma mater true

So, this past weekend was Homecoming here at the good ole SU. Funny how we are all (well, mostly all) alumni, yet I'm pretty sure I didn't see a single one of you guys this weekend! Regardless, as a University Relations employee, I spent the entirety of the weekend working. It was definitley very busy, but in retrospect, it was lots of fun.

Friday consisted of preparation for the weekend, Alumni Association Meeting (just a ps- if you graduate from Samford, you are in the Alumni Association, no dues, so you can be involved in anything we do), and then the Gala dinner. That's right, "Gala". Not exactly an appropriate title for what actually took place, but it was a grand event. There were 500+ people in attendance for the dinner that dedicated the Hanna Center (which is amazing, you should go check it out), celebrated the 50th anniversary of our campus' move to Shades Valley, honored our 4 alumni of the year, and thanked a bunch of philanthropists for supporting Samford. It lasted 3 hours and was very... entertaining. I have lots of stories, just ask poor Jamie who had to hear them all at midnight on Friday.

Saturday: driving the Admissions Office's golf buses to pick up haggardly old people and take them wherever they needed to go, pass out name tags and schmooze (word?) with folks in the President's box, more golf bus driving, more schmoozing at the Little Big Town concert, and the night ended with even more driving. It was lots of fun, I met lots of great/interesting people who really, and I mean REALLY love this place. Friday night especially made me really proud to be a Samford alum.

A few brief notes: 1) old people can talk. Two of the alumni of the year gave 20 minute acceptance speeches. They were told they had 1. 2) There is an awesome/disturbing portrait of Pete Hanna in the new center. It involves him riding a motorcycle. Check it out. 3) Driving golf buses (or limos as they have also been called) can be a blast. Driving regular golf carts that don't have headlights at night- not as much fun and a little bit scary. 4) It really is a blessing to have gone to a school (and to now work for a school) that has such a rich history and that has provided us with the education and the experience we have had. I think this is a really special place.

Mr. Wazoskey

A couple of weeks ago I ventured out to Emily and Jamie's house to spend the night. It was already lateish... Emily had already gone to bed. I went up to find my spot in Jamie's bed. Jamie was on the phone sounding really excited- of course she was, it was Will Weir! They were having one of those deep conversations about God and both saying amazing things that could be published or something. Anyway, 2 hours later...1 am ish I think, Jamie ran in all inspired and woke me up from my REM sleep by asking me how had I grown spiritually this year. I couldnt remember where I was but I did remember that Jamie just had an awesome conversation with Will. Poop, I had to come up with something awesome fast. I dont remember but I think I cracked under pressure and just said she could pray for a "silent"(aka..."unspoken"...the answer middle schoolers give when their youth pastor forces them to say something holy during Sunday School...hope this clears up the confusion).

Below is a picture that when I look at it, I get ticked. I get ticked because I risked my life for this lamo picture that didnt even turn out that well. Dang, if only I could have been Sarah Mac for a second. Caroline Janas and I sneaked up to this huge buck in Colorado. We didnt realize these things killed people until after I got the picture.

Injera makes you gassy.

I had one of the most tragic conversations of my life today in language class. We're learning about food…

Me: do you have grapes here?
Teacher: grapes? I don't know. I have never seen them.
Me: you've never eaten a grape?
Teacher: what? No. I have never seen them.

There were tears.

We found out today what region we will be sent to in December. I'll be going to the Amhara region in the north. This is excellent for many reasons: hiking in the Simien Mountains, ancient rock churches in Lalibela, the Nile, most of the girls I've gotten close to are going to the same region, I will only have to learn one language…. I'm pretty excited about it. Moral of this story- when (WHEN) you all come to visit, we will have lots of exploring to do. You should hurry and come.

In conclusion… the latest malaria dream:

Money Mike, Will, John, and Jamie came to visit. Money Mike's glasses got stolen. There were monkeys involved. John did something dumb (details are fuzzy) and did not come out in one piece. The monkeys won. Will, Jamie, and I just stood by and watched. Money also met an unfortunate demise, the details of which are also fuzzy.

I miss intentional conversations, soccer games with friends, family dinners, and knowing what's going on with the Office. But mostly just knowing what's going on with you all.

(Kris had me post this for her.)

She said yes!

This morning I found myself awake at 5:30am, so I made my way down to Franklin to catch Kimberly before work and propose. Fortunately, she said yes and we're getting married on June 7th...so save the date :)

it's like a marathon, except measured in interviews

today's the big day at uab-- i'm in town to do the whole interview/meet-and-greet thing with the School of Dentistry and the Dept. of Biomedical Engineering. first things first, i'm gonna sleep for 6 or so hours... then wake up and head to campus for a full day of meetings starting at 8:30am and going pretty much nonstop until around 8:00pm other than a break for lunch and a dinner with current students at the end. i'm supposed to meet/interview with 10 different professors-- i have no idea what i'm gonna talk about after i meet the first few. i'm thinking about rigging my tie with a speaker that'll play while i just move my mouth. it's an engineering department-- they'd be into that as long as i built it myself, right?

mind saying a prayer for me? specifically, pray that i'll have the stamina to pull off a full day of interviews. i'm pretty tired from working the closing shifts all week at starbucks and driving down here today.

thanks.
i'll keep you posted.
and no, i haven't changed my mind yet.

Finally something to be happy about

So. Since I am still pushing my way through my last semester of school (I can't hardly wait to be done), I don't have too much excitement in my life. Most of my days are spent at work, in extremely boring meetings with my nursing preceptor, or sitting in class listening to pointless lectures.
However, this last week has given me just enough happiness and excitement to make it through the remaining weeks. Not only did I find I wonderful house to rent in the Crestwood area (you are all invited to come visit by the way. I have plenty of room for all of you!) but I also got a job at Children's. I am so excited that everything is falling into place. It is such a stress reliever and a great reminder of how great God is.

I'm taking my pink cup

I don't care what they say. It's coming with me. They said to pack light. My pink cup's light. "Why would you bring that cup," some of you may ask. read on...

Some of you may remember I spent most of my college career with a pink cup in my hand.

The cup accompanied me through 2 years of 4 hour daily classes in the education building which reminds me of my 28 education major friends and our never-ending projects, which were daunted by our lack of technological knowledge.

The cup went with me to my student teaching assignments every morning; it reminds me of those 5th graders who called me bad words but loved me deep down...it reminds me of those toothless grins my 1st graders gave me every morning along with pictures they'd drawn for me.

The cup also made it's way to the caf and the food court for Food Court Fridays where I have wonderful memories of the chocolate chip cookies from the caf...and of all of you and the plans we'd make for the weekend...like playing soccer and then going to Dwight's apartment and jumping (or being thrown) in the pool with our soccer clothes on and Steven Bonham shivering while we played that movie game in the water...

The cup was a gift from one of my best friends from high school. I shan't go into those memories.

I don't know if I ever washed the cup while I was in school (it usually just had water in it...maybe it got washed once or twice). I've washed it since I've been home but it still reminds me of you guys.

I'm taking my pink cup to Richmond on Monday. Don't even try to stop me.

Laxity Killed the Matt

I’ve told this little anecdote to a few of you, but this one is amusing enough for the masses to enjoy…

Day # 4 in the life of Matt Francisco, red-bearded misanthrope and substitute teacher extraordinaire- I… am not a very good substitute teacher. It’s astounding. I mean, being a sub is easy, almost comically so... and yet, well… Mrs. Beenkin was supposed to arrive back at Mt. Brook Jr. High at 1130. The clock read 1110 as I prepared the fourth period English class to move en masse to the library to further develop their “character sketches.” Now, I know I tend to be a wee bit too relaxed in my authority, but what happened was nothing short of the work of Loki, laughing at my plight.

As one seventh grader reached for and proceeded to throw a plush football to another near the door and whiteboard, summarily knocking down a poster while colliding into the rowdy crew of 17 gathering near the doorframe, Mrs. Beenkin entered, ten minutes early, eyes blood-red with rage, just in time to be struck by a poster and a student.

“What are you doing!? Obviously not what I asked you to be doing?” shrieked Mrs. Beenkin as flames of fury flew from her nostrils and consumed three smallish girls.

“I, uh… was just about to take them to the library… and…”

“NOT LIKE THAT YOU WEREN’T!” erupted Mrs. Beenkin, whose horns began to protrude from her skull and whose eyes began to narrow as the Serpent’s. “I’ll take over from here. Now be gone before I devour your soul, mortal!”

Slowly, awkwardly, I gathered my things before I fled, frightened that my days substituting at MBJH were not only numbered, but likely terminated… Thankfully, thanks to my mother, apology letters from students, and a remorseful phone call from Mrs. Beenkin, I am still able to ruin children’s lives each and every day! ; )

Whay I'm convinced that God has a sense of humor

So I have been think alot lately about God and what I see him doing in my life and its pretty funny. I had been struggling alot with just truly relying on God and not seeking my worth by "proving" myself to others. So I had been praying about this, and I ended up in the hospital, partially because of overworking myself in order to gain praise form my superiors. Also, i had been far too concerned with some drama that was in my life concerning a girl. So I ended up in the hospital and it was a clear sign from God that what i deemed important was really quite trivial, and all that is important is that my life glorify his name. Also, I see now that God truly is faithfull, and his will is o so good.

So anyways fast forward to my other major concern which has been the i dea of the Church and what it should be. Alot of the people around me are heavily involved in a local house church, and as part of my internship I am required to attend this church. So I have been trying to figure out if this is right, or if what we need to fix these " mega-churches" are some kingdom minded people who are not afraid to be prophets and to go to these churches and proclaim the gospel. Anyways I expressed this to one of the elders of our house church last night and he was really cool about it and talked to me about my beliefs. About ten minutes laters another one of the elders of the Church made an announcement saying that a new house church would be forming on our side of the neighborhood, meeting at my house. This was quite a suprise to my roommates and I. But I see now that God is again showing how his plan while quite differrent than mine is meant for his glory.

S please pray for me as this House Church begins that I will be open to taking on an active role in this church, and that I will contine to be faithfull and rely on God.

check this out if you haven't already

hey guys and gals, all my dearest pals...

i'm sure many of you have heard of this website or others similar to it, but i wanted to point it out just incase some of you would be interested and haven't had the good fortune of discovering it yet.

the website is www.kiva.org

it's an organization that lets you make microloans to individuals/groups in developing countries. (if you don't know what i mean by microloans, just ask... i'll be glad to tell you everything i know about them). i know a lot of us are living on tight budgets right now-- but i'm pretty sure you can make a loan with as little as $25.00-- so we're talking about making a sandwich at home and skipping out on panera 4 times... etc. etc. And a loan that small can have longterm, life-changing effects for the people that use it to start small family businesses in order to support themselves. So... if you're interested at all, please check out the site. I promise it's worth your time. It's a really easy way to "give a cup of water" and make a remarkable difference in the lives of our impoverished neighbors around the world.

sorry this one wasn't as funny as the last post-- but if you only choose to read only one of them, read this one.

woot.
-brian

Dr. Bailey's Leaky Hearts Club Band

In honor of all the responses to cheese's post that indicate a startling number of our friends have "leaky valves," David has offered to hold a leaky valve clinic at our apartment tomorrow from 9:00-5:00, during which he will utilize 1st semester medical school knowledge and a little bit of magic (he memorized some spells from harry potter-- major nerd) to stop up the leaks. he regrets to point out that anesthesia isn't until 3rd year electives, though, and kindly requests that all patients bring their own bullets to bite down on during the procedure.

and i will make your favorite starbucks drink while you wait-- decaf, of course, to prevent your hearts from beating too fast. no bullet necessary, because i'm capable of practicing the full scope of starbucks techniques without inducing pain (dave clearly has some catching up to do).

and, for lack of a heart ailment to post about, i have an 10-centimeter cyst on my left kidney. i'm really hoping a lot of you do as well-- david needs the practice (don't freak out, i've known about it for years, and david figured out how to use our HDTV for catscans to monitor my progress-- i clearly have some catching up to do).

and now... for the greatest feat of the entire post thus far-- the end of my procrastination, and the re-beginning of my studying.

So I was kinda in the hospital

I'm not sure how many of you knew that i had spent the last three and a half days in th hospital but for those of you who didnt this is what happened. Last tuesday morning i woke up and my heart was beating really quickly, and I went to the doctor to see what the problem was. My doctor said that the problem was that my heart was in an irregular rythm and that was thy it was beating so rapidly. The doctors said that there was no real way to know what had caused it, but they though that it might be a combination of my allergy medicine (which had ephedrine in it). The same stuff that was in all of those diet pills. Anyways they got my heart back into rythm and were going to release me after one more test, an echo cardiogram which is sorta like a sonogram of your heart. Well when the did this test, they found out that I was born with only two leaflets in one of my heart valves instead of three. This means that one of my heart valves leaks slightly. What this means is that for a while I have to take some medicine and for the next week I have to give myself shots. But really this won't change my life and I will be able to live a full life. Honestly I', ok. The reason I didnt tell ya'll is because I wasnt sure exactly what was wrong, and I was just really tired and didn't want to answer the phone alot. Its not that I don't love you people because I do, anyways I am at home now doing fine and feel free to call me if you want.

the great divide.

yesterday was a lovely day in dc. warm, sunny, a nice fall breeze. if one were to have the opportunity to pick up lunch, take it to their roommate at work, and then partake of it in a sunny courtyard, yesterday would have been the day to do it. i was fortunate enough to have this opportunity.

so we approach the bench that we intend to eat our salads on when jen says, "you know, i wish i had worn pants today so that i could sit on the bench like this." she then proceeds to demonstrate how she would straddle the bench, as if she were wearing pants. the thing is- and she knew this- jen was wearing a skirt. as she straddles the bench, the sudden, shockingly startling sound of her skirt ripping fills the courtyard. it was quickly followed by the jen squeal as i sat in silent shock, horror, and amazement.

i have a picture to prove the veracity of my story. it's indecent. please note jen's flaming red face.



in other news, in 4.5 hours i will be meeting the people i am spending the next two years of my life with. i'm nervous. prayers would be incredible.

2 weeks, and a suprsing amount of change

Well I have talked to many of you recently but some of you not, and I hope to correct that sometimes in the near future. The reason for this oversight in talking is that I now have a job... to be more accurate I have 2 jobs. This was not my intention as I signed up 3 weeks ago to start working at Joe Muggs once again. I was just going to work there until I was able to get a job offer for somewhere I really wanted to work, and then take that job (however this could have been delayed by the fact that I only applied to 2 places)

Well anyways I went through a week of doing nothing, where I used my time very wisely by watching startrek (both next generation and voyager) and then going to see friends.. sometimes I wouldn't do that either, and I would watch movies, and maybe run.

Anyways, so I start at Joe Muggs, and about 3 hours into my first shift my phone rings, and who should it be but Fox6 offering me a job. The catch is that it is a part time position, and it's in editing instead of production, but I asked if there was a possibility of advancement, and they said they knew I wanted to advance and they would be evaluating me while I work there in case another job becomes available... which even if it doesn;t, this is better expereince than Joe Muggs. :) However I am still working there so that I can get health insurance. So now I went from doing absolutely nothing 3 weeks ago (if you can consider watching startrek nothing..... you can) to working 48 hours or more this week, and from here on out... if I can do it.

I just got off a 10 hour shift at Joe Muggs, and I'm about to die, but I'm hyped up on too much caffeine to sleep. WEll that's what's going on with me now, hope everyone else is doing great. Andy your job sounds awesome, and Jamie, Emily and Kristen are all evil for that Ryan Adams thing.

My friend Brain.

Well, after being discriminated against(or Virus and Spam Blocked) most likely an evil plot by the creators of this blog to keep me from infected others with nerdisms, I was invited to post. I figured I would start with a picture to describe my life in Florida.



As you can see the beach is being covered by more beautiful things, implying I do not see the beach often. Although we (incoming students at the Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers (CREOL)) did go to Cocoa beach the first weekend here. Life has taken a dramatic shift from that life to more one where we sit inside and play with calculators and write funny symbols on paper to describe the world around us.

Personally, I am really enjoying myself and things are working out really well. Classes are becoming more taxing, but interesting at the same time. The most important piece of news over the last few weeks is I am now in a research group and adviser, which I will be with over the course of my Ph.D. career. The group is, the Laser Plasma Group and I am looking specifically into research with Fiber Lasers. If you have questions you can ask me now, but I will probably answer you in a year when I have more knowledge and experience.

Other than those things there is a good group of students that I hang out with, about 50/50 domestic, international. International students are from Germany, Italy, Iran, China, South Korea, and India. We usually do one or two things a week (outside of classwork) so it is a completely different than the life at Samford where a person in a situation where there are multiple things to do.

In terms of Orlando, I have not ventured to tourist heaven or hell (whichever you prefer), but in about 10 minutes I will head closer than I have ever been because we are going across town to get Indian food. I pretty much stay between two places; my apartment and CREOL at UCF, occasionally I venture from that building to other parts of campus and remember I am still on a college campus (with 46,000 students). The city to me seems to have no culture. Actually I read a joke once,
Q. What's the difference between Orlando and Yogurt?
A. Yogurt has more active culture.


I'm sure there is more to tell, but I am leaving.

~Sims

my friend brian

so i feel i must share a recent skype adventure. i hardly use the thing, but tonight found a chat conversation from kris (which was decidedly one-sided...the girl can talk). as i was doing this, a little "hi" from brian pops up right underneath. so i am overcome with joy that my pseudo food twin has decided to talk to me. yes, brian sharon has actually initiated contact.

so i'm pretty enthusiastic in my responses, even though it's the standard small talk. i explain that i'm eating honey nut cheerios. he says cool, he likes those too. "really? weird! you mean we like the same foods??!" is my response. it seems, however, that the witty comment is lost on my friend brian who gives the standard internet chat laugh. 'man, studying has made brian a bit dull,' i think.

a lull in the conversation...
me: how is louisville?
him: wha?
me: you do live there now, right?
him: haha, what makes you think that?
[my brain]: uh oh...
him: hmm wrong person, right?

yes, that's right. i have now unwittingly joined the ranks of the lonely and the desperate--the internet daters.

we did end up having a lovely chat, though. i expect a proposal by a tuxedo-clad emoticon any day now.

Contacts List

Bored at work again. So I decided to put our contacts list on Google Docs. This means anyone with a Google account can update their contact info themselves.

If you don't have a Google account, you can still see the most current version at:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pORmrb7zuFz2brEK4jyXPcg

You can edit the spreadsheet at:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pORmrb7zuFz2brEK4jyXPcg&hl=en.

Google Docs is easy to use - it's pretty similar to Microsoft Office, except for the price. Anyway, using this, we can all update the sheet from anywhere in the world.

If you need to be included, just let me know in a comment.

Our friend Cheese...

So today Cheese and I had lunch. We talked about our friends and the incredible things they were doing and how they were going to change the world someday. We decided we're pretty proud of everyone.

After lunch Cheese takes me around and shows me the Bing, where he works, introduces me to fellow interns, etc. It was awesome. I had never really grasped what exactly Cheese was doing and how big a deal it was. I still didn't understand.

On our way back to his house (there was no poop in the tub), Cheese tells me that we're going to stop by and see Miss Kitty. You see, Miss Kitty usually sits out on her porch all day and waves at cars. Everyone knows Miss Kitty. But Cheese hadn't seen her out there in a few days and wanted to check on her.

Miss Kitty is awesome. She's 60 but could pass for 40. (Jen- she talks just like Kayla. Not even kidding.) Anyway, Miss Kitty loves Cheese. As in, there are pictures of him on her refrigerator. It's really cute. Miss Kitty took me around her house and showed me everything that Cheese had done, repeatedly calling him a real hard worker. She even pulled out a cooking pot and showed me where she used to have to place it everytime it rained before Cheese fixed her ceilings. Miss Kitty used to have a room that was so full of crap that no one had walked in it in 3 years. She explains that since Cheese helped her clean it out, she doesn't sit on her porch as much because her neighbors like being in her house. Also, she doesn't have to sleep on the couch anymore because the invasive crap is off her bed.

I sat on Miss Kitty's couch as she showeed me her photo album. Cheese's face was on every page and every time she saw him she squealed with delight and said "Look at Andy! There he is! Working real hard!" I was starting to understand what Cheese does. He lives in the ghetto and serves people. He knows their needs and meets them. He gives people like Miss Kitty a safe haven on a street where people rob convenience stores and then stash their loot in her backyard (she's still real upset about that and thinks the thief should have gotten more time). He looks for opportunities for her great-nephew to serve with SOS and be discipled. Cheese actively loves people.

As I was driving home I was thinking that it's similar to what Matt does with his guys that he leads, what Wardo does with the freshmen he is investing in, what Pat does with Younglife, what Em does with her hospitality, what Eric and Emily are doing teaching, what John is doing in NI, Will in Maryland, Jen in DC, Candis every day of her life, etc, etc, etc...

What I'm saying is I'm proud of (and convicted by) you guys and the intentionality with which you live. It's incredible to see how the Gospel is being spread through you all serving others. Also, we should all understand what Cheese does because it's freakin' incredible. Also, I've been real emotional lately so if this is sappy... well, I'm not really sorry. At all.

Pat, I would say productivity is high.

My Productivity Is Low!

This post will be lame. If you're opposed to lame things, stop reading. And consider dropping my friendship altogether.

It's lame because it's about work. But maybe I'd like for you to understand this extremely mundane part of my life.

Here's the deal. I'm supposed to be 93% productive. This means 93% of my time should be on projects that make money. I can spend 7% on things like reading email, filing, and working on projects that don't make money.

This is fine, except that I have no responsibility, and no way of creating work for myself. I sit here until someone gives me something to do.

Right now, I am 54.7% productive. Awful. If this keeps up, I'm going to get fired, and it won't be my fault.

Also, someone stole my work computer this weekend. Which is funny, because our office has around 50 computers in it, but whoever broke in stole 2 computers and a postal scale. Moron.

So I'm bored. I have no work to do. My productivity is sinking below the 50% mark . And now, you, reader, must decide if you even want to continue a friendship with someone with a 50% productivity.

I know it's lame. But you'll have something like this too. Nurses have to keep people alive. Teachers have to produce good test scores. Sims has to discover cold fusion. Kristen has to become Lord of Catanthiopia. Candis has to convert Malaysia. Matt has to... umm... he has to... uhh.... Parks has to sell coffee. And Brian has to be a barrister at Starbucks.

Meanwhile, I'm bored, but I'm getting paid, and that's better than nothing. And, since everyone wonders what it is that I actually do, since we all know cartography has been defunct since Magellan met up with some hostile Filapinos, here's something I made. Ahem, helped make. My boss drew the lines, and I colored them.
Special prize for anyone who can guess what place this map is showing!!! Everyone has been here. Here's a hint: focaccia, flowers, and a 3 and 1/2 year Quest.

Come Pick Candis Up.

Time: 1:04 am
Location: Hoover
People: Candis, Jamie, and Kristen
Ugly babies: none
Books: Mountain Rain, Surrender or Starve, How Shall We Then Live, and Celebration of Discipline

YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE OUR EVENING... ! We left the guys house, one of us thinking to herself, "That was the last time I'll see any of them." Candis thinking, "Wow that was a lot of hair on the porch." And Jamie thinking, "I really would like a corndog right about now." So, all of these thoughts were of course kept inside as Candis got in Jamie's car and Kris with Sarah, all intending to reconvene at Emily's in a matter of minutes. I (Jamie) dropped Candis off at her car infront of O'Henry's and she asked me to follow her to the gas station to fill up before heading home. It being rather late and all, I agreed, and we drove to the BP on Columbiana. Kris, still an emotional wreck, couldn't see the road and decided to pull over when she spotted our vehicles in the near distance.

To be honest, I was real annoyed that Kris hadn't stopped her crying. Candis only made it worse when she started doing step sing moves from the '05 show (Rhythm of the Night) to cheer Kristen up. I excused myself and made some lame excuse about needing to buy a box of Little Debbie Zebra Cakes. I left Candis just as she was about to do the popcorn move, and right before Kris' mascara began streaking down her cheeks. As I was walking away a colossal black tour bus pulled into the station. Candis immediately stopped her performance...but Kris was still uncontrollable. I went in, purchased my Debbies, and strolled back across the lot to the puddles surrounding Kristen and now Candis. Just about that time, who should emerge from the colossal tour bus...none other than a dark haired, greasy, singer song writer wearing a nasty pit stained white t-shirt with jeans. To be frank, it was at that moment that I wished I could have performed my 5th hair cut of the evening. Anywho, it was nearly impossible to walk by Kristen without thinking she had broken her femur, thus greaseball stopped and asked, "Is there anything I can help with?" Candis responded by saying, "Well, actually she's moving to Ethiopia for 2 years and she just said goodbye to some of her really close friends...you know what that's like, saying goodbye to close friends and all, so it's hard...ya know?"

As Candis chatted with the friendly dirty man, I pulled my tear streaked friend to the side. I told her to collect herself and to seriously consider whether or not dirtball may be THE Ryan Adams. Our suspicions (?) were confirmed when a band member (?) yelled across the parking lot, "Hey Ryan, you want anything?" Candis, totally oblivious, was now consoling Ryan about the difficulties of life on the road and how hard it was always saying goobye to his mom. Candis had also managed to learn that Ryan was in a band heading to Chicago, and that he wasn't looking forward to the 15 hour drive ahead of them. Candis called us over to meet her new friend. My knees a little weak at this point, Kristen nudges me over to the now famous greaseball. Losing all control, I blurted out, "You're Ryan Adams...I'm your biggest fan!" He politely smiled, thought about dodging the question, and finally confessed. Kris, always thinking of others, asked Ryan to autograph her snot soaked tissue for our friend Will who, "can play your music sober!" Candis, finally aware of the magnitude of the situation we have so providentially stumbled upon, blurts out, "Congratulations on being sober! How long's it been now? 6 months? That's great! What an achievement!" This clearly made our new friend uncomfortable, but Candis' bubbly personality proved irresistable that night. See ya Nate, hello Ryan! The band loaded up, Ryan headed back to the bus (Candis' number in hand), promising to call the next time he was in town for a show.

Candis is now reconsidering going overseas, I am now the one in tears, and Kristen is still thinking, "That was the last time I'll see any of them."

Too Candid?

Hey People-

Sooo, I just got back from a meeting with the missionaries I went to India with the past 2 summers. They wanted to chit chat about how I felt about this past summer and my leadership experience and talk about the future of our relationship. What this DTR conisisted of was them asking me if I would lead another trip this summer. Uhm, not to mention they need a decision in 2 weeks. So, if you're out of the loop, this past summer was incredibly hard and I still can't translate it into words. The leadership aspect was the most mentally challenging/ exhausting expereince of my short 22 years upon earth. So, for them to ask if I would think about returning to something hard and exhausting would be to go against every single desire that I have at the moment.
However...there is still this pull I have that makes 12% of me open to the idea of returning. Towards India, towards the 10/40 window, towards being a part of showing the Church in America what goes on beyond the Church in America, towards things totally outside of my comfort zone. I know that God can multiply that 12% and that makes me worried. I would greatly appreciate your prayers over the next 2 weeks...because if I were to be honest, my confession would be that I have really come to enjoy my comfort. If I were to identify the root of it all, I would have to confess that I am terrified to be used by a God that is so big...because although He's good, after this summer, I'm not so sure what that means. Thanks for your prayers.

body massage machine.... go!

In the spirit of stylistic conformity (and because I love Will Weir, esp. when he drives a total of nearly four hours to see me for five):

-Tuesday, 5:08 Pm
-The House of Y (as in our glorious chromosome) with Keith
-Books: Just finished- The Mark of a Christian by Francis Schaeffer, Looking forward to beginning- Oh the Glory of It All by Sean Wilsey
-Songs I Can't Get Out of my head: "Put a Penny in the Slot" Fionn Regan; "Marry Me" St. Vincent; "Issues" Flight of the Conchords; "The Temptation of Adam" Josh Ritter
Thing I must get out the way and go ahead and say: I got to hang out with Will & Jen this weekend and you didn't. Nahna nahna poo poo.
-Babies? Waylan Slabach had this great story one time of trying to go buy some pot, driving with the dealer to his "spot," and entering a crackhouse with dozens of babies in it- in drawers, on dressers, on countertops... (for more Waylan news, please refer to Hamilton or Cheese)

Besides realizing this weekend how much of an arrogant, judgmental a-hole I can be- particularly with churches that seem to have plenty of LaHaye, Dobson, Falwell, and Warren books lying around, understanding how God has really called us to love the ENTIRITY of His body as our brothers and sisters in merciful love, and, by God's grace, being allowed to fellowship with one of the most loving, "family" churches I have ever had the privilege of visiting (check out South Run Baptist in Springfield, VA if you're ever up that way- you'll feel like your visiting relatives), I again saw how cool God is and how perfect His plans are...

I'm busy and have this fear of being overwhelmingly so, getting burned out, and losing effectiveness, but thus far God has been quite gracious. I still meet with 11th graders on Monday mornings, have been leading worship on Monday nights at Campus Outreach, meeting with two college juniors Tuesday nights, meeting with two 11th graders Wednesday nights, started leading Thursday night worship (for a month) at Mountaintop Community, meet Friday mornings with 9th graders, meet Sunday afternoons for a youth praise band, and lead Sunday nights at Canterbury UMC (this section was for my roommates who always know I am somewhere, but never know where....), but it has been SO good. One eleventh grader, Alex, that I've known for three years finally became a Christian last weekend, and I wept when I prayed with him... I don't know if there is a more beautiful sight or more encouraging experience in the world than that.

Congrats Brian and much love e'rbody. i'll try and be less serious next time....
oh, and erin's really flippin' cool. just in case you didn't already know. i mean, dang cool. that's all...

woot for prayers

there have been requests for a report about how the DAT went on saturday.

i really felt like i bombed it. it seemed a lot more difficult than the practice test i took, and i had to guess a LOT. plus... there were two sections i didn't even have time to finish, so i just randomly clicked the last 10 or so answer really fast.

anyhow... your prayers not only worked, but God definitely went above and beyond merely answering the request for a 19. I got my score back-- a 22. I'm super excited about that, and so is Dr. MacDougall (the UAB dual-program lady). That puts me in the top 5% of people who've taken the DAT, so even if UAB doesn't work out (by the way-- it's looking more and more likely that it will work out... they want me to come down sometime in the next month or so to do interviews, meet-and-greets, go to dinner w/ faculty/students, etc.).. but yeah, even if it doesn't work out, that DAT score is high enough that i will eventually get in somewhere. but i'm hoping for UAB.

thanks a ton for your prayers, yall.

wow

i just finished my 8th hour of studying for the DAT today. my note-taking hand is cramped, and i'm feeling pretty wiped out and a lot less confident than i was hoping to feel at this point. i'm taking it saturday at 1:00pm EST, and yall's prayers would mean a lot to me. thanks everyone.

-brian

So there is no longer Poop in my Tub

At my desk in the SOS office
1253 PM
Tired
Saw an ugly baby saturday at the Frayser Helath clinic
About to begin Terrify No More by Gary Haughen

So ya, the whole poop in the tub thing actually got resolved the day after i posted about it. And my parents decided that since i was now 23 and had no cable thAT A RESPONSIBLE BIRTHDAY PRESENT FOR ME WAS A wII. sORRY ABOUT THE CAPS LOCK. I cannot type well. So anyways my life is going well and I still love mt\y job.
On a serious note, I went to a free-healthcare clinic in Frayser on Monday in order to participate in a "secret patient" program that my friend set up. Its kinda like secret shoppers but different. Anyways I made up some reason for being there and sat in the waiting room for over 3 hours even though I had an appointment. Also, almost every person that was in there was a young, pregnant woman, or had a young child. The reason that these clinics take so long is that they are sorely understaffed. As i selfishly thought about them wasting my time, I was struck by how ungrateful I was that I can afford insurance and good healthcare. And saddened b y the plight of these people whohave to suffer through this when they do actually need the help. Just whats on mym mind I miss and love all of ya'll.

guess who called me tonight

-the fellows house

-9:27 EST

-normal over all (yet slightly unsure of something particular)

-13 other people

-no babies

-lots of books

ok, so i was coming back into the house after a long, intense conversation with one of my friends here when my phone rang. and who the heck should it be but freakin Deb the Welder! (for those of you who don't know, Deb was the lady who fixed our axle at midnight on the way to key west. for free.) yea, so deb calls just to say hi. she said that she was hanging up that big group picture of all of us on her and Gina's wall and thought of us all. at dinner tonight she told her kids the story of that night and how we stopped back by dothan to see them, and how we talked about Jesus with her. 

one thing she remembered particularly was Justin Warden (i'm pretty sure) walking around her shop just saying 'praise the Lord! praise the Lord!' to everything she said and how everything worked out. i think if i had been in there with him, i would have sighed, 'oh justin...' but to hear deb tell it, he was like some sort of old saint, a good kind of zealot.

thank you for florida.

Im going suicide ZETA

-Bham at Ems
- 1:30 PM
- "what ev"
-no one around
-cant recall an ugly baby
-The Golden Compass (movie coming out soon!), and Harry Potter Book 7

kara here in her 5th year at Samford. not really knowing too many people at school these days. going through rush today though. i hope to be the 1st 5th year ever to get a pledge. well, not just me, but jamie too. jamie is going chi-o again hoping no one will remember her dropping out the first time.

things are good. the best news this week was that ryan and i got marriage apartments for December! the poop side of things is that i gotta move out of em's now, and live in the apartment to reserve it.

still lifeguarding at campus rec. this is my 3rd year working and by now i know how to beat the system. ive been monitoring the pool lately by sitting out in the hallway... this way it is cooler and i can concentrate on my homework more. also, with 20 minutes left of my shift, i go to the locker room and shower. sweet deal because i get paid doing one of those everyday must do things, plus I save Em on water. this month I have only used Em's shower once...my biggest accomplishment so far this semester... almost as big as Jen having her own cubicle and Andy having poop in his tub.

love hearing from you guys.

I read Isaiah once in BP... and this post is almost as long.

First things first-- this blog is long as crap, so if you are in a hurry or just don't have the fortitude to make it through, feel free to skip to the 2-sentence "SUMMARY" section located conveniently at the end of the post.

i forget what questions i'm supposed to answer here. something about the time-- it's 11:25 eastern... 10:25 back where a lot of you are... and 4:25pm where john is. and then something about who's within a stone's throw of me... which is nobody. that's kindof par for the course during the day while david's at school and i sit around the apartment studying, napping, reading, boredoming. But hopefully that'll change soon... i start working at starbucks next week as a barista (i checked, and unfortunately "barista" is both the feminine and masculine form of the word... how lame is that?). as for the ugly baby-- i stick by the "baby ruths look kindof like poop" thing. no one will ever convince me otherwise. and let's all admit it-- poop is ugly.

that's all of the suggested questions i can remember off the top of my head... hope everyone is cool w/ me slacking on the rest.

alright... for those of you who haven't had the luxury of keeping up w/ my ridiculous game of changing plans... a quick review:

i'm living in louisville w/ david, which is cool. and nice since i literally haven't made any other friends here yet. i'm considering using the PA system at the grocery store next time i go to announce my availability as a new friend. anyways-- i moved up here to do a master's in physiology as a precursor to med or dental school... but got shafted once i got here. long story, and i'll spare the details. now i'm taking biochemistry at a local college (it's catholic- weeeiiirrrd) to strengthen my dental and/or med school application, and distance-learning 2 courses through LSU, which qualifies me for my dad's health insurance... sweet. But teaching myself Calculus III and Differential Equations might be a little rough; it awaits to be seen.

now... here's the newest news:

there's a chance i'll be starting a DMD/PhD dual-degree program at none other than (prepare to roll your eyes at the irony) UAB. they've been talking to me about it, and the PhD would likely be in biomedical engineering, with cool oral/maxillofacial surgery-related research. it's been about a week since i've heard from them, but i just got an email from the director saying that they like my test scores and grades, and that since i'm distance-learning those 2 math courses, i'll only be 1 pre-requisite short of their normal students, which is no big deal. They're not sure yet whether they'd want me to start in the spring or the fall... for david's sake, fall would be better. but i'm not really in a position to make demands, so we'll just have to see what they say. oh-- and it would make dental school free, and set me up well for a surgery residency afterwards.

so that's the gist of it. and if yall could be praying about it for me, that'd be really great. i'm pretty worried about getting my hopes up because the master's program falling through here was such a kick in the face... but it seems like the program chair is pretty interested, so who knows. i'd love for it to work out, but i'm trying not to count on it. but yeah, your prayers would be awesome.

Here's the short version for those who took my advice and skipped to the end-

SUMMARY:
There's a chance I might get admitted to a freakin' awesome DMD/PhD program at UAB that would make dental school free and position me well for an oral/maxillofacial surgery residency afterwards. It's pretty much the ideal situation, and I'd love it if yall could be praying about that for me.

later duuudes.
-brian

I like soccer.

So this year the nursing school started a flag football team. Since I know very few of the girls that I'm in class with on a daily basis I thought it would be a good idea to join with them in some extra-curricular fun. Can I just please share with you how this experience has been thus far?? Maybe you'll laugh, cry, wet your pants...mosty just hurt with me?
So we had practice about a week ago, and I thought I did pretty good, I made some good runs and caught the ball a whole lot more than I expected to. Trust me, I wasn't getting a big head or anything, because my skill out there definately won't ever allow it, but I felt ok about actually being on the team, like I had something to offer should someone die and need a replacement.
So the next time we met was an hour before our first game to review some of our "secret plays." They are indeed secret because we have come up with really cool code names like "incision right" or "Hail Ida"...RIP Ida V. Anyhow, I was a lineman and then we had our QB and I guess the other people were runningbacks...not real sure. So it dawned on me that I should probably pay attention to the plays just incase they put me in as a runningback/reciever person. Just as it dawned on me...they switched me out. So my first play is where the girl on my right runs behind the QB and fakes like she's recieving the ball and then I cross behind her and get the ball and make a run. Here's how it actually went. Girl on right starts running. She does her fake, and I'm just kind of in a daze. Then my legs start moving, perhaps a little to fast, and I run into her...she may have fallen over can't remember because it was all so overwhelming. Now, keep in mind I just met these people. So, rather than laugh about it and shake it off, she looks at me with a face of sheer disgust. The rest of our team is turned around staring in silence and our coach is in shock that what just happened actually happened. I wimpered a pitiful appology and got back in position. Luckily the other team never showed so we won our first game and I didn't have to maim anyone else on my team when it came to matter.
Last night was our first real game. Everything was going smoothly, I was alright at blocking and on offense I did everything I could to get around the 7 foot blonde brick wall infront of me. I even caught a pass and got open for a whole lot more but forgot to yell for the ball. So all was good until I maybe took out our best player? I pray that I will never have to know if it was me or the other team. Anyhow, this is all slightly exaggerated, but it really is kinda tough making new friends, especially out there on the turf. I miss you all and am so so grateful for your friendship. Will you come home and play football with me?

nothing of consequence

- My House
- 12:21 on Tuesday morning
- tired, and ready for bed, but feeling I should give a try at this blogging tosh
- my parents are in their room, that's kinda close
- I hadn't seen any ugly babies recently so I looked up pictures of an "ugly baby competition" that they have each month
- Mere Christianity by CS Lewis

Well to those of you who have actually been in contact with me over the last week or so, nothing has really changed so, you can skip reading this post... but to all you others, there will be a quiz so pay close attention.
I am currently involved in the infuriating prospect of looking for a job, in a limited job field with little experience... this does not make for happy times. I was informed on the first day of my job search that the average job search takes 3-6 months, before a candidate finds a position, so I'm very early into this, and already I'm getting tired of looking.
I've applied at FOX 6, and tomorrow I'm going to apply at ABC 33/40. I am hoping to stay in Birmingham after my parents leave, but until then, God has provided me with a nice little safety net, with free food and no rent, so it's been quite nice, other than the mindnumbing boredom.
I have applied at Joe Muggs again, so that I have some cash flow, so that should start soon, and that;s about it. I hope all of you are doing well and I really enjoy reading about each of your adventures. It give me the chance to sit back and say... "oh. that's what you do with your life." :)

One Moment in Time

my apartment. kind of late, considering my new schedule as a working girl. pretty content. currently reading God's Politics, sort of, and looking forward to enjoying Gilead soon (thanks will!). my roommate, allyson. and come on guys, like i've ever seen an ugly baby? impossible.

so i've now been here in our nation's capital for just over a week and have four whole days of work under my belt at Bread for the World. the first day was kind of rough - or really just kind of dull and i was a bit concerned, but the rest of my time has been awesome! i'm getting to work on this conference in October that is bringing together influential Christian leaders and international experts on issues related to the Millennium Development Goals...ok, i don't want to bore with details, but i'm really enjoying it. and i have a radically new appreciation for The Office now. seriously, i ate a frozen dinner for lunch last week in the office break room with fellow co-workers, discussing election politics. we're having a staff bowling adventure this week, and i kind of went crazy decorating my cubicle, in which you all keep me company through our happy family picture.

in other news, i heard former civil rights movement activist william fauntroy speak in front of the Gandhi memorial yesterday. it was an inspiring speech which he concluded with an impassioned karaoke-type rendition of whitney houston's inspirational ballad "One Moment in Time." haaahhaaahaa, it was so humorous to me. no accompaniment, in front of Gandhi! everyone else was following every word, mouthing them with him. note to self: if ever struggling through a public speaking engagement, mariah or celine will do the trick.

Black Monday

- My apartment - Louisville, KY
- about 6:45 pm
- attempting to recover my sanity
- Brian Sharon who is diligently studying for the DAT
- I'm not sure about the baby...but I did see 50 fairly ugly dead people today in anatomy lab
- I'm trying to balance by time between Netter's Anatomy Atlas and my Histology book

So the reason for the name of this post is that I had my first real med school exams today...all day...and for a few years now the med students have affectionately refered to this monday as black monday. Fortunately, I can report that I survived (barely) and hopefully they're going to let me keep coming to class instead of failing me. I guess I'll have to wait and see about that though.

In other news, I'm really excited about this blog too. It's great to hear what's going on with all of your lives. As for me, I'm finally getting settled into Louisville and beginning to accept the fact that my life is going to consist of going to school, coming home and eating, and then studying for the rest of the night for the next couple years or so. It's ok though, it really isn't that bad. I'm still looking around for a church and I'm hoping I'll be able to find one soon. I'm definitely in need of some good Christian friends to spend some time with...I'm sure it will shock all of you to hear that people at U of L are somewhat different than those of you reading this blog...at least it gives me a pretty good mission field since I'm going to be spending a lot of time with them over the next 2 years.

Anyway, it's great to hear from everyone that's posted and I hope all is well with your lives!

4West-Children's Hospital
A glorious morning
I love babies. Therefore they are all beautiful to me. Sorry:)
The last book I read was the Five People You Meet in Heaven. It was the last book on my shelf that I had to read. I need to buy some new books.
I see all of the people I work with right now. It is a busy Saturday.

Anyway... I have finally started my last semester of school! It is exciting but extremely busy. Between numerous clinical hours and a full workload I hope to see some of you at some point before we graduate (for those of us still here). Sadly I don't have much time to write since I should be working (which is overrated by the way). I just wanted to add my two sense to this amazing thing. I love seeing how all of you are doing. Thanks so much Kristen for setting this up. You guys are the best! Love you all.

Can I please tell you about my family?

Conversation from appoximately seven minutes ago:

Mom: Hey Kary- does that Trevor boy have a girlfriend?
Kary: yes.
Mom: who?
Kary: me.
[awkward silence]
Mom: what? when did this happen? did you sit beside him on the bus tonight?
Dad: have we done a full background check? Where does his mom go to church? dad?
Mom: isn't his brother some sort of math genius? i think i talked to his mom once...?
Dad: so we still have some work to do on that background check?
Kary (while skillfully avoiding all questions): i'm really glad you asked that mom. i was wondering how to bring it up. good night!
(Kary exits kitchen)
Dad: we'll talk more tomorrow!
(Kary runs upstairs)
Dad: don't let him kiss you!!!
Kary: oh my gosh!
Dad (directed at me): you knew about this, didn't you?

the end.

while home is mildly entertaining (see above), i am going crazy and need out. i need an occupation. in other news- i'm coming back to birmingham! more details to follow...

miss you guys!

So there is poop in my tub earlier.

-My Friend candace's house, in the Bing.
-9:50 PM
-Trying not to freak out, and doing a poor job.
- Clifton, Jimmy,Candace, Liska, and Doug (My other interns)
- Saturday at the redbird's (Memphis' AAA Baseball Team's) Game
- Return Flight by Robert Lupton

So I am loving my life, I love my house with the exception of the problem mentioned in the title. Turns out that my septic tank is backing up, but I will fix that soon enough. I never thought that I would be at home in a community like Binghamton. I have had some chances to meet my neighbors whihc has been interesting to say the least. I have been poured into by some of the greatest men I have ever met. I have been able to learn alot, because the three guys whop work above me have shown me alot, and really trusted me to work on my own. I honestly love my life right now. But I have some prayer requests for ya'll.

1. We have fall servant weekends are beginning this weekend, and I'm sorta freakin out because Its my first time to really be in a position of authority.

2. Pray for my ability to truly be a neighbor to those living around me.

3. I have the chance to begin mentoring a kid name lil june, please pray that God will show me what to do in this situation.

4. O, and that the poop/tub problem gets remedied.

-My office, at Jenkins Peer Architects
-8:31 a.m
-Tired. And a little homesick...
-Jason. I work with him.
-Last time I saw an ugly baby? You guys would ask this question. I actually did see an ugly baby yesterday, but it was on a T.V. commercial. But I don't remember which one. Does that count?
-Don't Waste Your Life, by John Piper

Well now that that is out of the way, hello everybody. I had received an email from Kristen about this blog, but had ignored it (on accident) . Thankfully she set me straight, and I can now participate in this wonderful thing. It is so good to read about how everyone is doing. I miss you all a lot, and often find myself thinking it would be nice to be back in Birmingham for a little while longer.
But, I now live quite a different life. Most of you know this, but I moved to Charlotte about 6 weeks ago to start my new job. I really like it, but it's been an adjustment moving to a city not knowing anyone. God is good, though, and things are working out. I am trusting that friends will come in time. I am so thankful that I got to see a lot of you this past Saturday- it was much needed!
I guess that's all- I don't think I'm all that good at blogging...
Oh, and Jamie, my brother likes a girl too! Weird, isn't it?

Me too, I guess

• The sunny room in Wardo's house.


• 10:43 PM


• Calm, like the weather.


• Ryan Warden is sitting on the couch playing Damien Rice. There are probably others within 20 yards if we include the third dimension.


• This guy at work had a baby last week and I saw pictures today. All newborns are ugly.


• Book I'm enjoying: Lord of the Rings


• Book I'm falling asleep every few pages to: Walking with the Poor

Last night I fell asleep thinking about politics. Kristen had better watch out.

Words of Encouragement... hopefully....

Well, I don't have much to report as far as what I'm doing day-to-day since I don't start substituting until next week, but... well, reading over these posts made me want to write something as a confession of my undying love for each of you and my earnest desire to constantly remember you all in my prayers, so here.... I was at Joe Mugg's this morning working on my Bible study plan for this group of 11th Grade guys (who, believe you me, are going to get a severe ass-kicking via 1 John and the marks of a Christian... I mean, at least, hopefully they get as much of one as I've gotten in working on it...), and this was my journal entry from this morning. I've been amazed how much has simply carried me back to the gospel these past few months.... So I apologize for the length (and no, I won't do this often) and if I come across like I'm trying to be super-spiritual or something (I am more than aware of how much of a horrific sinner I am), I just hoped that the Lord could use what He reminded me to be used for your encouragement, so here it goes:

"Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon" -Isaiah 55:6-7

"If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me" -Jeremiah 15:19

God, I repent of thinking that I know anything at all. Jesus, maybe now more than ever I understand that I have nothing to offer apart from you. My knowledge of you and of your ways is so base that I am like unto Nicodemus, not understanding that the ways of the Kingdom of heaven are not like the ways of man, that nothing is impossible for God. Lord, your ways are higher than my ways, and Your thoughts are higher than my thoughts. I repent of wanting to know so little about You.... how brief is my time in the Word and in prayer and how shallow is the time spent there! How infrequently I share this faith I claim to hold so dear... Help me lead men towards your kingdom, the only place where they can be satisfied. May men seek you while you may be found. May I, Lord; may I. Soften my heart that it may be filled with the greatness of Your love.

Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness instead of the light because their deeds were evil. Light exposes the deeds of night and shows us for who we are, so men of darkness hide.... for fear that their flaws may be exposed, that they may be judged as they truly are, but whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God. Let us then not live in fear! Instead, let us rejoice that there is a God who knows and understands us better than we understand ourselves and says to us in our depravity, "Your sins have been forgotten. They are as east from west. You have been made clean; now go and leave your life of sin!" What blessed joy is this! There is none greater! We are wretched, but the Judge has named us righteous, has called us his children- making us co-heirs with Christ, not because of who we are or for our potential, for what could perfection have to gain from imperfection, but that the eternal, good, and gracious King has CHOSEN to show his mercy when mercy was most unthinkable... for who is like our God? To what image can I compare him? Wholly unworthy are we, but glory, alleluia we sing to our Father in heaven, who alone is worthy.

He must become greater; I must become less.

God bless you all.

Here goes nothing...

Well, seeing as how I've spent the summer stalking Jen, Melissa Richie, the UCF Interns in Ballymena, and Robbie & Jeremiah via their blogs, I figure it's time I contribute to this new found fascination...

Location: Samford Hall, room 309- my home away from home
Time of day: 11:39am CST
State of mind: optimistic
People within 20 yards: Stan Davis, Major Gifts Officer
Last time you saw an ugly baby: I went home this weekend and was hoping to catch a glimpse of this kid Meri Claire who is the ugliest baby ever... no such luck
Book that you're currently reading and enjoying: Kara gave me a really cool book that I'm excited about reading, but haven't really started yet... and I can't remember what it's called. So, I fail this question.

Ok, now that I've gotten all the minutia out of the way... Like I said, I went home this past weekend for the annual Altrusa Labor Day book sale. It really is a weekend I look forward to every year. Altrusa is a national service organization that focuses on literacy. Their annual fundraiser is a massive book sale, and my dad is a member (and avid book reader slash collector) so I go home to help out. Now, you may be thinking... "used book sale, no biggie". Well, my dad guesstimated on Friday that we had about 120,000 books! It is a ridiculously huge endeavor. It's so much fun! It's all these old ladies from the library and my dad basically, so it's hysterical... the drama that undoubtedly ensues is usually because someone found a whole box of hardback fictions in the biographies, or that one volunteer decided to organize the romance novels by author and another person didn't think that was a good idea. So... that was my weekend. Good news: we raised $21,350 to give to the Ronald McDonald House, student scholarships, and local schools!

Ok, here are some pictures.

1. Before the people came in... one angle of 120,000 books in boxes.

2. The ridiculous line before we opened the doors. Oh, and it was raining.

3. Tons of people shopping for cheap books! What joy!