interesting...?!

so, apparently i need to convert because this online test says i should be muslim. if it weren't for the internet i might have been a christian all my life. thank you, internet quiz for showing me the light.

identity crisis

well, today it is official. my name has changed. at work, that is.

for the last two years i have been listed by my full legal first name, middle initial and last name in our databases at work. the reason i had my middle initial was to differentiate myself from another woman in a different office with the same first and last name. middle initial and all, we still got eachother's phone calls, emails and instant messages. we would forward everything on to one another and got pretty used to the hassle but i decided to put an end to it once and for all by changing my first name to my 'nickname' and removing the middle initial.

this change has thrown me for a loop though! at every job i have been at, all paperwork and computers listed me with my full name - never my nickname. even at school most classes had me listed with my full name. to see my short little name all over everything now is pretty odd. i don't know how i like it. even though my entire life i have been 'referred to' as my nickname, the long name was always there. now it is gone. it's almost disconcerting. i know i will get over it at some point and my little name will become normal but it may take a while.

i have always wondered if i would change my last name when i got married. i love my last name ( my first and middle names too!) and am soooo attached to it. this pretty much cements it. i will never change my last name.

to my girls

this afternoon my friend katrina and i went to see 'the sisterhood of the traveling pants 2', even though neither one of us had seen the first one : ) what a cute movie it was! we both cried a little, as it hits some of those universal 'girl' issues and the characters have such a bond. what i came away with though was such an appreciation for all of the girls in my life that have played such an integral role in shaping me.

it reminded me of the times my girlfriends and i have taken road trips
-chicago with elisa, sharon and kristyl
-the glorieta trips and mission trips with michelle, carla, chele,paige, amy and katrina
-southern california with heidi, carla and michelle
-caribbean cruise with michelle and beth
-the idaho fiasco of 2004 with sam

and also of the crazy things we have done together
-running out in thunderstorms, navigating the tunnels w/ my ntbi girls
-girl's night at the wiesers (when they were gone and michelle and i house sat ) where we all planned our weddings (bsm girls )
-30 second dance parties
-house sitting at the warman's and thinking the house was broken into ( sam, becky and deanna)
-gone snipe hunting in the middle of the night (sam, brianna, and a bunch of guys)
-moving in together (n and d)

these things mentioned above are only a fraction of the memories we have together; some of the girls i named are like the sisters i never had. i thank God upon every memory of them for their friendship and encouragement. there have been times where we have been together and i wished that the moment would never end. i knew in those moments that what i had was so special that i would never be the same.

thank you, my sisters for being my friends, my encouragers, my partners in crime, my sounding boards, my good sense, and my prayer partners.

i love you all!

tagged

this comes courtesy of my friend sam.

1. What are the last 3 things you purchased?
Prescriptions for me
Table cloth and napkins
Prescriptions for Maggie

2. What are the last 3 songs you downloaded to your iPod?
boy named sue - johnny cash
barracuda - heart
like a prayer - madonna

3. What are your 3 favorite movies?
how to lose a guy in 10 days
godfather
the family man

4. What are 3 things you haven’t done yet?
gone to europe
bought a house
paid off my debt

5. What are 3 thing you can’t live without (not counting people)?
cheese
maggie
music

6. What are your 3 favorite dishes?
lasagne
fajitas
baked sweet potatoes

7. What are your 3 favorite T.V shows?
jon and kate plus 8
naked archaeologist
desperate housewives

8. Where are the three last places you traveled to (more than 100 miles away)?
michigan
grandparent's house in bothell
carribean

9. What are 3 things you would buy if money wasn’t an issue?
a huge house to fill with kids who need a family(sorry i am a copy cat, sam : )
a brand new house for my parents
musical instruments for all students who want to take band

10. If you could have 3 wishes, what would they be?
for energy issues to be solved
for everyone in the world to have food, clothing, shelter, love and education
to have a room for all of my crafts :)

if only it weren't science fiction

with all the buzz about the large hadron collider in europe, the science geek in me has blossomed. luckily, i am surrounded by science geeks at work.

one of the conversations that took place today was regarding loosing gravity and it's relation to black holes and alternate universes. in a theoretical alternate universe we discussed, there was no gravity....there are benefits to this universe, we decided. here are some of them:

-no anti-aging cream needed
-no more pesky 'walking'
-screws and nails would be very valuable, due to having to affix all furniture and fixtures to floors and walls
-the concept of seeing floating people in horror movies is no longer scary. what is scary now is seeing people standing still...'they aren't floating, they must have special gravity powers'
-no shoes required. elbow pads and helmets recommended
-the paralyzed are no longer confined to wheelchairs and rascals
-travel is very cheap, as you don't need an 'aeroplane' to fly

there were no downsides discussed. this universe is without downfall. because in a world without gravity there is no 'down'.

(get it? : ) if you didn't, you need to geek up. )

update on the veg diet

several months ago i started experiencing some odd and uncomfortable health issues. ultimately it was diagnosed by my doc to be gall bladder disease. my liver isn't so healthy, so it is effecting my gall bladder and making my tummy hurt when i eat certain foods. a brief list of these foods is found on the right hand side of my page here.

the doc ( and a lot of research ) said to go off of meat products and fatty/greasy foods. the reason that i cannot tolerate these anymore is because the effort it takes your body to digest them is more than my gall bladder is putting out. after a few months of making the transition ( and some painful learning along the way ) i have a pretty good idea of what i can eat and what will make me sick. i have also learned how to compensate my diet to make up for the protein i am missing by not eating meat. here are some of my lessons:

-just say no to soy 'beef' strips from morningstar farms. their 'chicken' is really good though. so are the 'corn dogs'
-combining your proteins within a meal or over the course of your day is very important. examples include : yogurt and granola, beans and rice, beans and cheese
-this is a great recipe : Ultimate Protein 'Fried' Rice - edamame, 2 eggs, carrots, celery, brown rice, chopped peanuts. top w/ soy sauce, green onions. 40 grams of protein in one serving!!! if you want the details on that recipe leave a comment and i'll get it to you. : )
-the amount of protein in foods is greatly misunderstood. people often overestimate by very large amounts how much 'energy' they are getting from food. here is a break-down:
*peanuts 9g/quarter cup *yogurt 8-12g/1cup *edamame 14g/half cup
*egg 6g/one egg *beans 7-10g/half cup *pumpkin seeds 19g/quarter cup
*cheese 6-8g/ounce *brown rice 4.5g/1cup *steak 42g/6oz
*chicken 30g/3.5 oz * fish=tuna 40g/6 oz, or 22g/3.5 oz other fish

now, compare these amounts to what you are supposed to have every day...some of these are a drop in the bucket. to figure out how much protein you need in a day, multiply your weight in pounds by .37. this is how many grams of protein you need to sustain your body. less will cause your body to leach it out of your muscles ( gross ); more will cause your body to have sustained energy but also the chance that it will be stored as fat in your liver.

overall lesson today: balance is the key to everything. protein management is not exempt. i like eating vegetables and have been feeling so good since i have stopped ( or drastically cut down on the amount ) eating meat.

long live the cows....cause i'm not eating them : )

add it to the reading list

there is a book called 'having a mary heart in a martha world' by joanna weaver.

apparently i need to read it.

does anyone else struggle with this?

i would love to be a 'mary' and just roll with the punches. 'sure! invite 70 more people for dinner. it's no big deal' or 'oh, sure, come on over. i'll run errands another time' or ' don't worry about cleaning that up. you go have fun, i'll take care of it'.

but alas, i am a 'martha'. 'no, i am only cooking for 8. this is what i planned. i am not a short-order cook' or 'come over later, please. if i don't run my errands now then my whole day will be off' or 'clean it up yourself. be responsible'.

mary has a soft heart and is gracious. but don't let that fool you, her generosity can be rude in the way it effects others. martha is ordered and conscientious. but again, she can seem rude and brash and ungracious.

there is nothing inherently wrong with either one of these women. the trick is balance.

i am not good at balance.

the reasons that come to mind when i make an argument against the 'mary' opinion seem shallow and not what Jesus would do ( wouldn't He just set another plate?). on the flip side, my 'martha' arguments can seem like there are no boundaries and people should be doormats (we need to cut it off somewhere! ).

i guess i have some reading to do.

28 things i love...

the beach
fancy things
pretty fingernails
rice
puppies
memories of college
vanilla ice cream
traveling
documentaries
doodling
vacuuming
dahlias
yellow
white puffy clouds
spreadsheets
parakeets
new clothes
eye drops
swimming
clean bedding
feta cheese
drives in the country
earrings
naps
having the windows open
brownies
stories kids tell
HGTV