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.