Count Down to Mac - ??

Okay, so I have a MacBook Pro that's been sitting under my bed, in it's box for a month now which I finally get to open this weekend when my hubbers comes home to celebrate my birthday!

One dilemma... I really just can't decide on a name!

{If you know me, you know I name everything... cars, computers, devices, instruments, etc.}

Top picks so far are:

MacAurther

  MacGuire

MacGyver

Mac Machiavelli (From FRIENDS)

Cast your vote!  

(Write in's welcome!)

Well hello Fall, you've finally arrived!

Weather like this makes me want to lay out on a blanket at the park and fall asleep while reading a good book.

Since I'm a bit too busy for that just now, I'll appease myself in reminiscing about the good ol' days when I would make time by skipping class or whatever was in my way.  =)

Glad that you've finally chosen to make your appearance, Fall... it's good to have you back.

Visions of Laundry Rooms Dance in My Head...

Lately I've been dreaming about a beautiful laundry room.  One that makes me feel wistfully peaceful as I treat stains and sort socks.

Today, I found a picture of the nearly exact embodiment of my dream laundry room...

Ballard Designs

Yes indeed, it is lovely, is it not?

I'll tell you my three favorite things pictured here:

1) In Love with this beautiful Beadboard Drying Rack

2) Adorable "Laundry" letters

3) A finished laundry room

*sigh*

One project I would love to tackle in the very near future is to finish our laundry room.  It currently stands as the only one tiny little room in our entire home that is still adorned with concrete floors/walls and drywall lacking studs.

I often find myself dreaming of beautifully tiled floors and finished walls with lovely collapsible beadboard drying racks and a neat little place to keep every soap bottle and other such laundry supplies...

Chaos in a Nutshell

Today my life looked something like this:

7:40am - Leaving for school

7:41am - Thought I was leaving for school... Car key won't turn in the ignition

7:42am - "Hm, this is odd, why won't my key turn."  Turn wheel, try key.  Step on break, try key.  Lock &  unlock, try key.  Bang on gear shift, try key.

7:45am - Okay, this is ridiculous... and I'm going to be late.

7:46am - Mom walks in garage, "Why are you still here?"

7:47am - Call Jamie, "...car won't start, I'm going to be late."

7:48am - Call Hubby, "My car won't start, the key won't turn... yada, yada" ...cry.

7:50am - Give up on Franny, mom will take me...

8:00am - Leave for school

8:11am - Arrive in class with guest speaker... shamed.

8:53am - Decide to skip Psychology with Robert so that he can give me a ride home.

8:55am - Head to Ed. building so that Robert can print... discover we have a test on Thursday for said class we are currently skipping... lovely.

9:05am - Decide to go to my casa to study for said test while we are skipping said class

9:17am - Arrive at casa

9:18am - Break key off in front door of casa... throw keys

9:20am - Scale fence with extreme grace & finesse... riiight... May have gotten stuck half way over and hung there a bit while Robert laughed hysterically at me

9:21am - Enter through back door, sounding automatic alarm connected to said door

9:22am - Disable alarm... ADT calls Hubbers in TX

9:23am - Attempt to let Robert in through front door... said door will not open with key broken off in the lock.  Robert continues laughing hysterically.  Robert enters through garage.

9:24am - Take panic stricken dogs outside

9:27am - See missed call from Hubby and return said call... Hubs laughs hysterically at mental image of yours truly scaling our 6ft privacy fence... then apologizes profusely for my ridiculously chaotic day.  We discuss solution options, yada, yada...

 ...Robert and I study psych, Robert leaves for his student teaching, I study/work on "stuff" yada, yada...

11:30am - Walk to local hardware store to purchase bike lock... then walk home.

1:45pm - Nap... definitely necessary after this day so far!

3:00pm - Ride four miles to campus for 3:45pm class

3:30pm - Arrive on campus, not too terribly tired, but definitely stinky.  Thankful for time to desweatify myself

4:50pm - Jamie offers to load my bike in her Cobalt and take me home, I happily agree.

4:55pm - Attempt to load bike in Jamie's backseat...

5:00pm - Attempt to load bike in Jamie's trunk...

5:05pm - Lay Jamie's back seats down and attempt to load bike in her backseat/trunk combined

5:08pm -Face defeat

5:09pm - Laugh with Jamie about our attempts and say farewell

5:12pm - Ride four miles back to mi casa... half-way through realize it was slightly downhill the whole way to school...

5:39pm - Arrive at mi casa in pain.

And there you have it folks... my crazy day.  
I will now reward my efforts on this tumultuous Tuesday with pizza, ice cream and a chick flick, thank you. very. much.  All, of course, will be retrieved from the grocery store a few blocks away... on my bike.

Oh... and the car can't be fixed until the parts come in on Friday.  So the rest of my classes this week... Yea.  Marilyn (my bike) and I are either going to be really great friends or sworn enemies by the end of this week!  =)  

Silver Lining:  I'm being forced to get the exercise I've been complaining about not having time for!  LOL

Hygiene Fail

So I'm in my last year of my five year Music Education program and have started visiting the schools that I am observing at this semester in preparation for full time student teaching next semester.

I love elementary music and may be very happy teaching that for some time, but ultimately I want to teach high school... so this is important to me, right?  Important to make good impressions?

Today I visited my cooperating high school for the first time...

Once I was too far away from my house to turn the car around, I realized I had forgotten to apply deodorant.  

What a day to forget something that is so very vital when you're nervous and sweaty!

Lovely.

Well I survived... and so did everyone around me.  ;)

True Love

Today I am overwhelmed by my Savior's love for me.

I've been sitting here for some time, staring at this little white box and trying to come up with some way to effectively share with you what I'm feeling inside... but I can't.  I don't know the right words to describe.

So I'll leave you with this... a beautiful song that stirs up in my heart so any emotions which ultimately translate into a thankful heart full of adoration for the incredible sacrifice my Heavenly Father made for me... the sacrifice He made for you.

Please, take a moment to listen to the beautiful story of sacrifice in this song...

How Deep the Father's Love for Us

A Reminder for Tenderness...

On my way home the other day I heard an interview with Sara Groves on the radio, discussing her newest album; a snip from this was was played. Sara says that in this album she writes for the first time about a dark period -- "year seven" -- she and her husband went through in their marriage. It struck my heart so heavily and painfully how her lyrics truly depict what happens too many times when spouses argue. "Oh run for your life, all tenderness is gone. In the blink of an eye, all good will has withdrawn..." I think every married couple has been there; that painful moment in an argument or disagreement when your sweet loving and tender caring for one another disappears to be replaced by blank stares and stubborn will as you "mark out your paces" and your listening hearts close up and harden ...how painful, how powerful.

What a reminder of such the precious blessing the Lord has given me in my husband and how I so desperately want to protect his heart from the hurt that I am capable of inflicting through my own selfish humanity. Lord help me to love my husband the way You would want me to; even in conflict.

This song brought me to tears and repentance; I hope it impacts your heart as strongly as it has impacted mine...

Sara Groves: "It's Me" 

weather came and caught us off our guard
we were just laughing and feelin' alright
had such a great time just last night
we walked into a minefield undetected
you took a tone and I took offense
anger replacing all common sense

oh run for you life
all tenderness is gone
in the blink of an eye
all good will has withdrawn
and we mark out our paces and
stare out from our faces
but baby you and I are gone gone gone

incomprehensible layers of isolation
now your the man with a heart of stone
making me pay here by being alone
seemingly justified righteous indignation
now I'm the woman who holds all her pain
looking for somebody else to blame

we hold all the keys to our undoing
cutting me down in small degrees
you know my worst insecurities
I'm making no effort to understand
no one can hurt you like I can
deep down inside the girl's waking up
she's calling out to the boy she loves

it's me
oh baby it's me
how in the world can tenderness be gone
in the blink of an eye

the girl in me she's callin out
oh the girl in me she's callin out
to the boy in you
to the boy in you

baby come back
baby come back to me

Even the Waves Obey His Voice

Kristin took us by this bench out on the San Clemente coast.  I just love that this bench sits on the sidewalk facing the water, proclaiming that even the waves obey His voice...

  
Matthew 8:23-27

  ...Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him.  Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.  The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"  He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm^.  The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!"