Monday, December 26, 2005

Away

I am currently in florida on vacation with my family and 20 other people. I know, my life is rough. Today i was at a shopping center. This little girl, maybe 8, looked at me from head to toe and rolled her eyes, as if to say, i cant believe you went out in that. She did it 3 times! I almost beat her up!

Thursday, December 22, 2005

I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

I decided the hippopotamus song is about American consumers.

Gayla Peevey doesn't need a hippo; it's an outrageous request. Seriously, what would anyone do with a hippo in their two car garage?

Like Gayla, the typical American consumer always wants more. Not because we need more, but because we want more. A bigger house, nicer car, new furniture, new clothes. And the list goes on.

But maybe this isn't just an American problem. When I was in India the new craze was camera cell phones. They didn't even have cell phone service in some areas and people had a camera phone. They had to have the latest and greatest (except indoor plumbing didn't seem to make the list....).

The need for acquiring more and more probably isn't just an American problem. We just have the resources to acquire a lot of stuff. This is probably a human problem. A selfish human problem.

And now that I am working full-time it's an attitude that I fight a lot.

I hope I get a hippo for Christmas!

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Uncleaning

Not only can I not cook or bake, but apparently I can't clean either.

Yesterday I had invited my friend Emily over for dinner. I had neglected to clean in the last couple of days and my apartment was filthy. I quickly put things away and began to vacuum.

Right when I put my face down near the vacuum cleaner to pull out the hose, the stupid bag exploded. Dust and cat hair blew all over me, the carpet and my apartment. Appropriately, I screamed and ran to unplug the vacuum.

My apartment was just FILLED with dust. And Emily was coming over in 1/2 hour.

I got most of it cleaned up, but my apartment still is pretty dusty.

It's a good thing I wasn't born during a time when a women's worth was measured by the house she keeps, because I would surely be kicked to the curb by society.

I can't believe that I have a college degree that says I know stuff about running a business, but can't even vacuum the carpet. (or cook stir-fry. or bake a cake.)

One thing is for sure: I won't forget to check the vacuum bag again!

Monday, December 12, 2005

Domestic Me

Guys, don't marry girls who haven't lived on their own.

Because chances are, they can't cook.

Tonight I made the most disgusting stir-fry ever. It's a good thing I'm not married, because my husband would have divorced me right then and there. Or thought I was trying to poison him.

I thought vegetable stir-fry seemed like a good meal after my weekend of consuming chicken flesh. As I was cooking the veggies I realized that unless I put some spices on it, they would just taste like cooked veggies on brown rice.

You must know that my spice rack intimidates me. I don't know which spices should be used for which type of foods. I stare at the pretty bottles of spice and realize they are just daring me to use them and ruin my food. At one point I thought about tasting them all to get a better idea of how to use them but then I smelled Thyme and decided that seemed like a bad idea.

I used some spice mixture that seemed like it should make food a little spicy. I think it did. I couldn't taste anything, but my lips burned a lot. I am re-labeling that spice "Tasteless-lip-burning-spice" for future reference. I thought adding cheese would make the stir-fry taste better and it kind of did. I got two more bites out of it before I had to throw it away.

Apparently my mom taught my sister and I how to use spices, because Sarah can use them well. I just didn't retain anything. It's trial and error for me!

Tomorrow I am making tortilla soup. From scratch. Hopefully that turns out.

Thursday, December 08, 2005

God, Cars and Cats

My trip this week went much better than the last one. We got nothing but positive comments at our program review, which was great. The highlight of the trip was the flight down and back where I got to talk to one of my coworkers about God. Good conversations too. I had been praying for this opportunity for a while now. He's going to come check out my church and is willing to listen to my thoughts on God. The whole trip was worth it for those two conversations.

In other news my car is dying. I think the cold is just zapping its will to go on. For the last couple of days the drivers side doors hasn't been latching properly. This means that I get to gracefully climb through the passenger side door, over the parking brake and gear shift and into the driver's seat. Today on the way home, I think my car had a heart attack, but some gentle yelling and banging my head on the steering wheel brought it back. I guess an inch of snow is just too much for my little 626 to take anymore. I had accidentally pulled up behind a car that had broken down at an intersection. Apparently my car thought that seemed like a good idea as well and promptly died. It eventually started, but I think I may need to push up the time frame for getting a new car. May seems like such a long time for my car to hang on. I want to get a Jetta. Silver. Manual. If you know of a good deal on a Jetta, let me know.

My cats love the real tree I got them. They love to chew on the ornaments. They love to run and leap into the branches. They love to jump from the couch into it. They love to climb it. I am glad I got them such a fun toy and spent time putting all those toys on its branches.

Saturday, December 03, 2005

Travel and a Tree

Sorry about the lag in posting. I was in Orlando earlier this week for work. It was probably the worst trip I have ever taken. Every little thing that could go wrong did. Except for my hotel room; everything was very nice in my room. Last week a coworker traveled to Dallas and they gave him a key to someone else's room. He definitely walked in on someone while they were sleeping. Talk about frustrating.

Today my family and I are getting the Christmas tree. Should be a fun time. Some years it takes us FOREVER to agree on a tree. Other years we pick one out really quickly. I need to get a tree for my apartment. I haven't decided if I want a real tree or a fake tree. I've never had indoor cats around Christmas time so I'm not sure what they would do. I think I would rather have a real tree - but just a small one. My cats have been acting like I feed them crack, so maybe a real tree isn't the best option.

Saturday, November 26, 2005

The Grand Illumination

Last night Chris, Amberly and I went downtown to see the grand illumination of the Christmas tree at courthouse square. This was the big kick-off for all the Christmas events in the area.

After we looked at the old window displays we got some hot chocolate and moved to the square to see the tree. After a couple choirs the city commissioner got on stage to begin the countdown for the lighting of the tree. He made some remarks about how great the city is, blah blah blah and then began the countdown.

Ten.
Ten.

Someone was echoing his counts. I looked on stage and our mayor (who happens to be a drug addict and is never really all there) is repeating after the commissioner. Everyone, except the mayor, continued to count with the commissioner.

Nine.
Nine.

Eight.
Eight.

Seven.
Seven.

Six.
Six.

Five.
Five.

Four.
Four.

Three.
Three.

Two.
Two.

One.
One.

At "One." The commissioner started cheering and nothing happened. Soon the lights on the tress around the square lit up, but not THE tree. Everyone just stood there, not sure of what to do. After a painfully long wait the tree's lights finally came on.

At this point the choir on stage started to sing Jingle Bells, but they were off about a half of a verse from the music that was playing. This was because the band on the second stage had started singing Jingle Bells a few moments before the choir did. Both groups were being pumped through the speakers and it just sounded awful.

Not to worry, because the fat sound guy with the mullet went sprinting across the stage to get to the sound board and turn off the choir's mics.

Amberly, Chris and I almost fell over laughing at all of this.

Sigh. I love this city.

Thursday, November 24, 2005

Sorry girls, he's not available.

On a completly different note from my last post, here is a picture of my wonderful boyfriend, Ben, and I.


I know. I probably just made a whole bunch of people puke. Well...I don't know what to say except for... sorry about your mess.

Happy Thanksgiving

Did you see it?

It snowed yesterday and today. I love snow. Snow crunching under your feet is one of the best sounds in the world. It is right up there with leaves crunching under your feet. I really hope I always get to live somewhere with four seasons. I love the changes in weather. (Good thing I live in Ohio, Huh? The weather changes about every hour.)

Well it's officially the Christmas season. Stores try and trick people into thinking the Christmas season starts right after Halloween, but it doesn't. It starts right after Thanksgiving. I am listening to Christmas music right now. Tomorrow Amberly and I are going downtown to watch the lighting of the tree. I absolutely LOVE Christmas time. I love that people throw parties. I love that people are willing to start conversations with strangers just because it's Christmas time. I love Christmas in cities (NYC especially). I love picking out the perfect gift for my family and friends. I love decorating for Christmas. I love making caramel and buckeyes to give out. I love singing Christmas carols at church. I love Christmas.

I know several people who do not share my love of Christmas and it makes me slightly sad. I feel like they just aren't seeing something that I see about this time of the year. I think I annoy them by trying to convince them how great this season is, but I really don't see what there isn't to love about this holiday!

Yes, we have taken it and turned it into the "Holiday Season" so as to not offend anyone and we've made it more about presents and less about the birth of Christ, but I can ignore that. I know what Christmas is all about. And so does my friends and family. So until the world gets in line, I will continue to love what Christmas is really about and ignore the junk that we've added to it.

With that said I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Sunday, November 20, 2005

How to make friends with your neighbors and throw a good party

Last night I had invited some people over to play some games. Amberly came over early to help me get ready and we decided to fix a pizza for dinner. Amberly put the pizza in the oven and as I was finishing cleaning the bathroom I heard "Hey Andi, what does this little lever do?" By the time I had yelled back not to touch it Amberly had said "Oh. It's locked."

I run into the kitchen and sure enough Amberly had flipped the self-cleaning lever which had locked the oven shut. With the pizza inside. For those of you who don't know what the self-cleaning function on an oven does, it takes the temperature up to some uber high temperature like 500 F and chars everything so it can just be brushed out. And since the oven gets that hot, it locks for safety.

This is all great if you have small things stuck on the bottom of the oven that need charred off. It's not so great if you have a whole cheese pizza in the oven. I was sure we were going to burn down the apartment building. So after a few minutes of Amberly and I yelling and pulling on the lever, I flipped the breaker for the oven. This kept the oven from burning the pizza, but it did not unlock it.

Amberly and I tried to call people to see if anyone knew what to do, but no one answered. I noticed that there were directions for cleaning the oven. I figured if we could trick the oven into going through the whole self-cleaning cycle in a couple of minutes then we would be golden. We flipped the breaker back on and tried to reset the cleaning cycle. It didn't seem to be unlocking the oven and after smoke started coming from the oven we flipped the breaker back off.

Shortly after this the power went out in my apartment complex and the complex next to mine.

The night just got better.

We busted out the flashlights and then realized that my apartment was FILLED with smoke. We quickly opened the windows and then heard sirens. I think I would have laughed my butt off if the fire department had showed up at my door. They didn't, but we panicked and Amberly fixed her hair in case they did.

Eventually the smoke cleared and people still came over. Note: If you lose power, cancel your party. It's really awkward for everyone to sit around in the dark. No matter how nice of a fire you have in the fireplace. The power came back on after 2 hours and saved the party.

I'm not sure if we caused the power outage. I kind of hope we did. It would make the story that much better. This morning I heard a girl at church talking about how she was at a friends apartment and the power went out. Apparently they didn't have any candles and it ruined their party. It made me laugh. Really hard.

Thursday, November 17, 2005

A Filtered Worldview

I really hope my last post didn't come across as whiny. My intent was not to write against any one church or an organization, but to simply express my frustration with a problem I saw. Last night, I briefly talked about home churches with one of my pastor's and I think my church may be moving towards more partnering than I had thought. Yeah!

I need to make sure that I check myself before I post. Blogs are a great communication tool, but they can do a lot of damage. A post made in frustration or anger can be hurtful and the damage can be hard to repair. A while ago I was talking to my pastor about a blog that had some very hateful stuff posted about me and he made the comment that he didn't think blogs were always a good thing. People post on them as if no one reads them, but they are open to the public. Things people wouldn't normally say in a large group are suddenly easy to post. I wasn't sure I agreed with him at the time, but I see the danger now.

James tells us that the tongue sets the whole body on fire and is itself set on fire by hell. With the same mouth we bless God and curse men. I never took that to mean written words, just spoken words.

The theme my junior year at the Christian high school I attended was "filtering everything through a biblical filter". I thought it was dumb at the time. A cheesy Christian saying that allowed for creative skits. Now I see the value in it. EVERYTHING I do and say needs to be filtered through scripture to see if it glorifies God.

Filtering my words and actions seems stifling. Like it is quashing my real desires. However, when I glorify God I realize that is my true desire. I may lose sight of that for the temporal things of this world, but I was made to worship God.

I am sure there will be times that things that are posted on here should not be. For that I apologize. I'm still learning how to filter everything.

Monday, November 14, 2005

We don't really play well with others....

Why can't churches work together?

It really frustrates me that most of the time they don't. Even the campus ministry I was a part of didn't work with other campus ministries. Sometimes I feel like churches are competing for "holiness points" or something. If we worked together to reach our community then we'd have to share those points. Ahhhh!

I've decided that I really like small churches. I grew up in a small church and the community in a small church is great. The problem is that small churches don't have a lot of resources. Big churches do. The church I go to has somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 people that attend. Tons of resources available. The church plant I go to has about 20 - 30 people and pretty much no resources.

So little churches have a hard time sending missionaries, providing supplies for their community, etc... BUT, what if small, big and medium sized churches all teamed together? Looked past the doctrinal differences for a little while and all served together? We might look more like the Bride of Christ.

I know churches aren't perfect. And I don't really blame anyone. It's hard to partner with people. Takes time and trust. But I'm not sure churches even think about teaming together.

Maybe we focus on the community within our church and ignore the relationship between churches.

I've just began to realize how much this frustrates me.

My church is beginning to launch Home Churches. (Don't ask me about them because I still really don't understand much about them...) Maybe with these Home Churches (I promise we are not a cult) we can get the community of a small church and enjoy the resources of a large church.

Now if only we could team with other churches and parachurch organizations....

Sunday, November 13, 2005

A Door Opened?

I may be able to get involved with a ministry downtown sooner than I thought. Last Sunday I went to a church plant meeting in a neighborhood that has one of the highest number of prostitution businesses in the city. It was a little scary going downtown with sketchy directions to a neighborhood I had ever been to but I found the community center just fine though.

I walked inside with a couple other people, all of us carrying dishes for the meal. It was pretty chaotic inside. People were setting up tables, setting out food, and herding kids. I put my salad on the table and quietly sat down at the table with a million kids and one mom-looking lady. I was soon introduced to the pastor, Jeff, who explained what the meeting was all about. It was an informal way to introduce the community to Jesus, see where the immediate needs were for that week and pray and worship together. Jeff introduced me to Leslie who explained a brief history of the neighborhood and how the construction of the highway killed it.

After some time of chatting we prayed and started eating. Once again chaos. After the food we sang some songs. Most of the praise choruses were sung by the music guy, the pastor and me. People didn't seem to know them, however; everyone sang for the hymns. People then started sharing praises that happened throughout the week. Two teens accepted Christ this week. One ladies son almost died but a "chance" encounter with a nurse and CPR saved him. Another lady was finally able to go to the next city and see her sister. Then we started praying for each other. It was awkward. Most people had never been to a church and weren't comfortable praying out loud. But they all knew that prayer was the thing that was going to get them through the next week.

You could tell just by looking at the people in the room that they had had a hard life. But they loved Jesus and each other and were fighting to make their neighborhood a safe place to live again.

I loved it. I'm going back tonight and I can't wait.

Saturday, November 12, 2005

Pudding Cake

Whew. A lot has happened since I really posted last. My mamaw passed away. She was a believer so she's in heaven, which is good for her because she got to go home. I'll miss her though.

My Mom's birthday was on Tuesday. My Dad brought Chinese food home and I was supposed to bake a cake and bring it. This would be the first time I baked anything in my apartment. Cakes are well.... cake to bake. At least most cakes are. I made a yellow cake and we fought. It looked perfect coming out of the oven but it soon fell and when I tried to ice it the top layer kept coming off and making the icing all crumbly. Angry eyes. I let it cool overnight, I shouldn't have had this problem! Finally after fighting with it for approximately 35 minutes, I got it iced. I won. However, by the time I got it to my parents house it had fallen even more and there was a giant chasm in the top. Whatever. I gave up. When my mom (who was so excited that I baked her a cake) cut it, I figured out why it fell. It was completely mushy on the middle. Only the corners were done enough to eat.

I fought the cake and the cake won. Happy birthday Mom.

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Hello again!

I am back. Sorry for the delay in posts. Since I moved into my new apartment I have been without the internet, TV or a phone. I now I have internet access and a phone. Oh the joys of communication.

I love living on my own. I just can't wait for my cats to get flea treated and come join me!

I have so many great stories but I need to go to bed. It's an early morning tomorrow.

I am open to suggestions about how to decorate my apartment. I'll see what I can do about getting some pictures of it up here.....

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Laugh the Best Medicine

My Mamaw may be one of the funniest people I know. I think it's because her humor normally catches people off-guard. Unlike my Uncle's humor which is just strange (how can you tell a difference between an oral or rectal thermometer? The taste.) Mamaw's humor catches you off-guard because you don't expect her comments to be coming from an 80-some year old woman.

Right now she's in the hospital and as we were leaving one day my Dad said "Well you just rest tonight. Don't go running up and down the halls. Wouldn't want you to trip down the staircases." To which my Mamaw replied with, "Oh..... I'd just roll." A few days ago the nurse was checking her blood pressure and such and my Mamaw asked "So, do you think I'm pregnant?"

She's a funny lady.

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Up-date on the City

I am moving into my new apartment next weekend. It's in the suburbs. God's timing with my living and working in the city is obviously not the same as mine. All the doors for me to get involved with ministry downtown have been shut.

I wondered if maybe I misunderstood God. Maybe I wasn't supposed to be involved with urban ministry. But I still have a heart for downtown. It frustrates me that I'm not doing anything. I think the calling is still there - the timing is not.

One day I realized something.

I think the suburbs are boring.

What if God isn't calling me right now to the "excitement" (for that's how I viewed it) of urban ministry? What if He is calling me to be ordinary? To live a radically boring and safe life? What if He calls me to the mundane? Could I do it? Could I be obedient enough to step out in faith not just when things are dangerous, but when life is dull?

And then I realized that the point isn't the level of greatness I am called to, or how content I am in my calling (whatever that is). I don't even think that the point is my obedience. The point is the One who calls me.

Maybe I focus too much on being obedient and what that looks like and not enough on Him who calls me.

So that's where I am right now and I pray that someday I will be working downtown.

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Andi is.....

Thanks to Beck's interesting post and a google search.

Andi is*:

1. fit and thriving
2. best known for being the leader
3. always ready to help its members on any topic
4. one of those people who beat the odds and was cured of HCV last year
5. the first primate to be similarly modified.
6. given the opportunity
7. working as a publicist
8. fun to work with very relaxed
9. in town
10. an average student


*From a google search of "andi is".

Saturday, October 15, 2005

Surprise Visit

Ben came up to surprise me with a visit this weekend. What a wonderful surprise!

We saw two things which could best be described as "creepy" this weekend.

One was when we were hanging out with his sister in this weird little town near my alma mater. There's really not much in this town except for several Halloween and party stores. We drove through at 11:00 pm and there was a large number of people just milling about the town. Families, Chinese MBA students, teenagers and couples were all just chillin'. A weird mix of people. That in and of its self was creepy but then at the end of the main street square there was this old cotton candy booth (like what they have at fairs) all lit up and selling cotton candy. The corner was very poorly lit and the whole scene looked like people were there for a festival we couldn't see. CREEEEEEEPY.

Today Ben and I went for a walk in the woods and after probably 3/4 of a mile we come to this clearing that is filled with little kids in costumes with their parents. The location had picnic tables but the shelter that was there was gone a long time ago - all that remained were the giant chimneys. It looked like we walked in on some strange wood fairy dance. The strangest thing was that the nearest parking lot was probably half a mile away. And some of these kids were really young. CREEEPY.

Aside from the creepy events it was a great visit. We went to a garage sale and I got dishes, a crockpot and a lamp all for 15 bones.

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Would you like Unleaded with your fries?

On Wednesday my car ran out of gas.

In the Wendy's drive-thru.

At the pick-up window.

As my car sputtered and died the guy at the window informed me that I had my food and that I needed to pull forward. I responded with beating my head against the steering wheel. The guy behind me (along with the other 20 cars in the drive-thru) responded with getting really ticked off.

By the time two Wendy's employees came out to push my car I had taken the key out of the ignition. They started pushing and my steering wheeling locked in a position that aimed me right for another car in the parking lot. The Wendy's guys kept yelling at me to steer toward the empty parking space. (My ignition sticks, so it took a couple tries before I got the key to turn and could unlock my steering wheel.)

We parked the car and I thanked the Wendy's employees and walked across the street to the gas station. I informed the little Indian man behind the counter that my car was out of gas and I needed a gas can. He just shook his head and said they didn't have any.

I stood there and stared at him and he told me to go around the front.

"So you do have gas cans?" I asked.

"Just go around there." He answered.

At this point I had no idea what was going on. Finally his co-worker jumped in and told me they didn't have any gas cans that they could loan out - I would have to buy one.

"That's fine. Where are they?"

The guy repeated that I needed to "Go around the front."

"So I go outside? Are they on the side of the building?"

"ASILE 1. GO TO ASILE 1!" He yelled back.

I eventually got some gas in my car and was done looking like a complete idiot for the night.

Sunday, October 02, 2005

Last Weekend

I can finally post about last weekend.

I had planned to visit Ben that weekend for a while. I got a late start as I had to leave work later than I wanted to and then got stuck for an hour in a traffic jam in Cincinnati. I started to get really frustrated at the back-up of cars, but after a while I figured that there was a reason God had me stuck in traffic. When I saw smoke coming from my car I knew that He did.

The adventure that happened that night makes for a long story with which I won't bore you. I will give you the cliff notes of the evening.

A lady named Elizabeth stayed with me for 7 hours to make sure I made it. Her friend Bill came to help replace my alternator belt and the truck mechanic, Lenny, from next door also lent a hand. The first belt we tried was too big so Bill drove Elizabeth and I across the river to get a new belt. Bill, being an retired cop, thinks the speed limit of all streets in downtown Cincy is 50 mph. We were flying through the city with Bill yelling at everyone in his way. After a quick stop at an auto-parts store we flew back to my car. At one point Bill was trying to point out the school where he works on top of the hill. He stopped at a light and a building was blocking our view. So Bill threw the car in reverse and we went flying backwards down the road until we could see it.

That night was an adventure to say the least. I met some very kind people, even if they didn't know anything about how to replace an alternator belt (they were putting it on wrong - that's why it didn't fit.) Eventually we realized that the alternator was burned out and my dad and mom came down to help replace it. We finished working on my car at around 2 am and I made it to Lexington the next day.

Meeting Elizabeth was a neat experience. She didn't fit the standard Christian stereotype but she showed me more of Christ's love than most Christians. It was good to talk with her and encourage her and be encouraged.

If you think of it, pray for Elizabeth, Lenny and Bill. They all showed me kindness and could use some joy in life - they've all had it pretty tough. I'm glad I met them.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

I really have no time to write.....

A million things happened this week that were blog-worthy. Like going to visit Ben and my car breaking down. (The highlight was definitely visiting Ben, not so much my stupid car.)

But I have no time to write about them all.

So instead I will leave you with this warning label I found on my brother's BB bullet package:

NOTE!
Under the parent serve as guardian usage.
This product forbids the swallow.
The in keeping with 7 years old and above child plays.

That's some BAD translation.

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Can I get in the car?

The other day my mom dropped my dad off at the grocery while she drove over to Wal-mart. My dad got done before my mom so he walked over to Wal-mart. He got to the car right when my mom started it up. She didn't see my dad so she drove over to the grocery store. With a sigh, my dad walked back over to the grocery store.

My mom wasn't looking for my dad and just as he got to the car my mom, not knowing he was there, pulled away and parked. My dad walked over to the parking spot and my mom, being the funny lady she is, saw my dad this time and pulled away as a joke. She didn't know she had already pulled this joke two times.

I guess chasing the car for a third time was too much for my dad because he just stood there.

My parents are hilarious.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

More Fish

Remember how I gave Ben fish? (See "How to get someone to fail out of seminary or go bankrupt" from May 2005) I am taking care of these fish for him while he is at school. So I got him more fish. Two more fish actually.

I have now learned that comet goldfish are evil. They ate the guppy. All of it. Not a trace of poor Maria left. Friday they were all getting along just fine and by Sunday there were only three fish swimming in their tank.

What kind of sick fish eat their friends?!?!?!? Fish are friends, not food!

I am thoroughly disgusted with Fred and Hosea. Friend eaters!

Saturday, September 17, 2005

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog. I like the name for this one much better. The name andicandiland sounded like I was in third grade. And while I may look young, my blog doesn't have to sound juvenile.

Actually, this isn't really a new blog. It's the same blog with a different address. But I hope you enjoy it none-the-less.

Friday, September 02, 2005