Lower Still

Hey Molly,

I don't have a whole bunch to talk about tonight. Dinner was good; we went to Concetta's, this little italian restaurant in Bloomfield. The owner knows my Uncle by name, which was weird. We got a chicken cordon bleu pizza, AMAZING. My dad and I sat down and watched some episodes of Law and Order when we got home, which was also weird; it was the first time in a long time where we haven't been arguing, so it was kind of surreal. My Mom called! It was so good to hear her voice. From the sound of it, she's up and about with a walker, waayyyyy ahead of schedule! She should be home by Sunday.

Ok seriously, here's a direct link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN1kI85URYQ

You have no reason now not to check 'em out. They've got a serious prog/tool vibe going on, without the really nonsensical lyrics. Some other users have posted some other great songs as well, but I really dig this one.

Ok, another short post. C'mon Mouseboy you can do better than this. Next time I'll find something really good to post, promise.

G'night Molly,
-The Mouse

Awesome haunted house is awwesooommme

Hello David!

I just got home from training, and now I am posting before heading off to small group. I am so excited to be back! I had such a fantastic time, got to know my class a lot better, and can't wait to see my fellow interns again. Now I am all rejuvenated and itching to set up one-on-ones and events and stuff.

I have to tell you about Netherworld. I don't think I've ever been to a haunted house, and this one was the #1 haunted house in America. Just waiting and walking around outside, waiting for everyone to gather, was amazing. There must have been a dozen or more actors dressed as all different terrifying characters such as a muzzled wild woman, a voodoo doctor, a creepy clown, a tree-person, a giant bug-like thing with glowing red eyes and jaws that snapped. Entering the house cost $22, but it lasted probably 30 minutes, and just when you got to a point in the house when you felt like, wow, that was totally worth the cost...it continued and got even cooler. It employed all sorts of different sensory experiences, was a feast of creativity for the eyes and mind, was terrifying and captivating and so, so much fun. Let me slow down and give some examples.

Sensory stuff: Basically, the path you were to follow weaved back and forth through an old warehouse, and every inch of space seemed to have been put to use. At one point the walls were all mirrors, and in the dim lighting, figuring out which way is clear and which is a mirror--as well as which is your reflection and which belongs to an actor about to jump out and scare you!--is not a super easy task. At another point, there was a swamp, which was created by casting a waist-high plane of green light, under which a swamp creature hid. And the path through the swamp was flanked by blown up polyester tunnels that you had to push between, making it seem like you were moving through water. The tunnel things appeared later by themselves, creating a cloistering, dark crevice you had to push through. There were a couple spinning tunnels with stationary walking paths through them. One was lined with green dots of light, and even though I knew the path must be stationary, and even though one of my fellow interns was behind me yelling, "Molly, the path isn't moving!" my body refused to listen to reason, and I made it across, clinging to the railing and trying my hardest not to fall down. It was so, so neat.

The creativity that went into creating this attraction is mind-boggling. Around every corner is something new. There was always someone jumping out--sometimes lurking in the shadows, sometimes swinging down from the ceiling overhead, sometimes dressed as similar objects in the room, such as a chair or coats of armor or gargoyles or statues or corpses. Statues, walls, and rafters fell. Water dripped from the ceiling. Eerie lights dimly lit the fog. The most suspenseful thing for me was when I would notice that something was definitely a person, but because I was staring at it, it held perfectly still, and I passed by, the whole time with my fists up by my face (to hide if need arose I guess?) expecting it to jump out. (All I could think of was: "Don't Blink!") In the case of some of the actors, if they got a rise out of you, they would follow you through their section, saying creepy things in your ear. There was a nasty bathroom, and a spooky lair, and a deceivingly plush living room with a beckoning hag, and a mad scientist's laboratory, and on and on and on. I would have loved to go through the house a second time just to look closer at everything, and see all the details I missed on the first walk-through.

But the most amazing things of all were the large creature heads that, I learned the hard way, were not in fact mechanical. My favorite moment of the night: We had been winding through the house in a chain--Jake in front, then Rachel, then me holding her hand and the hand of Jen, who was behind me (Jen and I screamed and laughed and clung to each other the whole time. We are so much closer now, lol), then Andrew (there was another group of six interns that followed a little behind). We entered a room painted like the stormy sea, with octopi on the walls and nets draped here and there, and a giant dinosaur-shark head thing at the far end of the section. As Jake and Rachel crossed it, the shark head thrust out and chomped, just missing them. I stopped and watched it withdraw back, then spring out again. Jake and Rachel were on the other side, just through the next doorway, waiting for the rest of us to cross. I carefully timed my escape, figuring there must be some sort of pattern to the shark's movements, and because it was just drawing back, I should have enough time to dash across, right? WRONG. It pulled back, I ran, and out it came and my whole body got chomped in its mouth! I squealed, and it let go. There was a similar creature later on, and that's when I realized that there was actually a person inside the giant head. Too. Cool.

Summary: Holy crap that was awesome. I'm definitely going back next year.

I will read you tomorrow!
~The Princess~

Faster than a speeding Mark

CRUD!

I almost forgot I was supposed to post tonight. Did a good deal of reading, homework, etc. Just found out one of my favorite albums OF ALL TIME got rerealeased on vinyl. Neat.

Man, Mark is fast. It's kind of like he had a word limit and tried to cram everything in. Still, it's a good refresher, I'm just trying to figure out where I should go after I finish him (might even finish it tonight). Any recommendations? I'm thinking of going to Acts. Actually that's probably what I'm going to do!

My Mom goes in for surgery on Thursday. I'm scared for her. And no amount of hoping and praying will change what COULD happen. The doctor says it's more likely for her to get into a car crash and die on her way to the hospital than it is for her to pass during the surgery, which isn't exactly comforting. Please please please say prayers for her tomorrow and Thursday.


Ok, time to finish Mark. Goodnight! I'll read you tomorrow. Right? And it'll actually be a decent post, Right? Night Molly

-The Mouse

Lame post is laaaaame

Hello David!

I am at RUF training in Atlanta! I am about to go to dinner with my area coordinator, and afterwards I am going to NETHERWORLD HAUNTED HOUSE with some interns. It should be a grand old time. But it also means I don't have much time to post. Sorry!

~The Princess~

Homework, Sermon, Guitar, Batmaning...I mean sleep...

Hey Molly,

Just finished my homework for the night; we were supposed to be having a small group discussion which I completely forgot about. I hope the group forgives me (probably not), thank the specter of the internet that they can't e-punch me, because I definitely deserve it this time. Prior to my hw freakout, I had dinner with my family and Uncle Tom, and then we had cake! It was his birthday. I asked him what the civil war was like, he didn't seem amused. 

Now I'm probably going to watch Kevin's first sermon. After that...I dunno. I still have to send stephen and brad emails, so that sounds like a good idea to me. Maybe play some guitar afterwards? By then the night will be pretty much over. The days go by so fast.

Short post. Deal with it. Actually that's not what I intended, but tonight was really boring, and I feel like I'm about to explode in anticipation for friday. A group of us are going to this restaurant that made an appearance on the food network. It was on a show following eateries that were absolutely terrible, but this magic chef comes by and fixes all of their problems and makes it a 4 star restaurant. We will be the judge of that, and I expect much in the way of sarcasm from john. It'll be good fun.

Night! Read you tamale.

-The Mouse-

Ho-hum last minute posting

Dude,

Alyssa is here. We're drinking Reisling. I don't have time to go into detail about my day. But suffice it to say it was a good one. We went to a documentary called The Swell Season about that band, and it was great. It was at a super indie movie place. And I out-hipstered you by telling you Sigur Ros made a movie. What's. Up.

Sorry this is so short--but you've made short posts before so I'm gonna not feel bad about this. Also, I can always edit it later.

:-)
I will read you tomorrow,
~The Princess~

EDIT: I'm not sure what that song was about, but this line is really haunting:
One empty rings around your heart
The world just screams and falls apart

One evening 1945...

Evenin' Molly,

I played so much guitar today and it felt GOOD. I haven't sat down and played like that in probably months. Let's see...what did I learn. I relearned "Independence Day" by Elliott Smith (this time properly without messing around with random finger picking) and every song off of that album "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea" by Neutral Milk Hotel. Here's a link to a song! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCjpbjCH5L0

You're probably not gonna get around to watching it, but I really wish you would; it's excellent if you can get past his kind of nasally, shouting voice. The lyrics will break your heart.

Got some discussion stuff done for my class, had dinner (CURRY! YES) and then went out to pick Zach up from Youth Group. I've never really sat down and talked with him about his faith. I get the feeling that he goes to church to please our parents and doesn't really take anything from the service. He's still young, but it's probably something I should bring up with him. He does look up to me (or so says the 'rents) so it couldn't hurt.

Tomorrow at 10:30 I'm meeting with Pastor Anderson. I'm pretty excited; I'll let you know how it goes afterwards. I think I'll probably grab some Mrs. Murphy's for breakfast along with some Celebration of Discipline/PABIG/I completely forgot I still had the Reason For God! I was really wrong about the whole mysticism aspect in CoD (not call of duty) and I think it might be a book you'll benefit from. I'd imagine that a lot of it will be old news to you, but you might find some parts of it really interesting, I know I am.

Goodnight!
I'll check back tomorrow for your post.


-The Mouse

Marcia-mellow, dressed in yellow

Hello David!

Marcia and I just finished watching American Beauty. It was a toss up between that and Adaptation, and we were going to leave the final decision up to Alyssa, but when she wasn't able to join us for the movie, I decided that Marcia would probably like a tragic suburban drama over a quirky meta jaunt. Well...I still hold that she would like American Beauty over Adaptation, but that's just because I really think she wouldn't be amused by Adaptation.

It's bedtime now. Marcia surprised me with microwave brownies, which we will enjoy tomorrow. Thanks for suggesting them. :-)

I will read you on Monday,
~The Princess~

I have probably over 10 copies of this book sitting in my house

Hey Molly,

Today was really interesting. Work wasn't all that special, but during lunch I stopped by the local emissions tester to get, well, my car's emissions tested. The place was open, but apparently the guy who was supposed to do the testing was out for the day....WHAT?! Ok, granted they do provide other services, but still EMISSIONS is in their store name! Hmph.

My dad and I went out after dinner and grabbed an appetizer and a beer. We chatted for a while about faith and a number of other topics that we can delve into if you feel like giving me a call sometime nudge nudge wink wink. But really, it was nice. I've never really connected to my dad like this...like man to man. It was good.

I've been trying to keep busy, for a number of different reasons. I'm starting to realize more and more that by focusing on small goals throughout the day, it's easier to keep that pace with bigger things. Tonight I'm gonna continue with "Celebration of Discipline". The next chapter focuses a bit on meditation, which has always kind of confused me in it's separation from prayer; maybe this will clear things up. I sent Pastor Anderson emails to two (2) email addresses, so hopefully he gets back to me by tomorrow morning (He's an early riser, like grandpa level early). We're also going to be discussing spiritual disciplines, I'm curious what he has to say about meditation, though given that this is one of his favorite books....hmmm....*UPDATE* 10:30 am tuesday we're gonna meet! ^5 Dave

Anyhoo, things are looking up for the Feldmeister! (if you get the reference I will eat one of Zach's socks out of sheer amazement). Goodnight!

-The Mouse-

Poetry, shmoetry

Dear David,

How long do orchid flowers usually last? Because mine have been with me since the beginning of the school year and have yet to fade. I enjoy their company, I'd just like to know when I have to start worrying about their impending death. Should I get my orchid plant a friend, do you think?

I am ahead of the game study-program-wise. I finished my book for this month, and my scripture readings, and I've read the sections of the Westminster Shorter Catechism and Confession of Faith for this month AND the next. Now I just have to write my report on Spiritual Depression, which I hope to finish tomorrow morning.

I got a book by Terry Goodkind a while ago. It's called The Law of Nines. I was super excited to find another Goodkind novel (he wrote the Sword of Truth series), but I don't think this one has any dragons in it, so what's the point? Anyway, I just started Mockingjay, the third book in the Hunger Games trilogy. It's a great series, but I have somehow lost interest, even though I read through each of the first two books in three days.

I thought about writing a poem, because I have a lot of words swimming around in my head, but then I figured this was not really the place to get all artsy and morbid. And also, I want to get some reading done tonight and go to bed. I think I've been getting too much sleep again, because I'm always tired, and I just want to stay in bed all day. If I didn't have Responsibilities, I just might give in to that temptation.

I have another video in the works. Well, it's at the idea stage right now. I will write up the script this weekend,  because it is fall break so I will have not much to do. Well, I will write it up Monday, that is. BECAUSE MARCIA IS COMING ON FRIDAY WOOOOOT!!!

I will read you tomorrow,
~The Princess~

Tuesday? More like Snoozeday

Dear Molly,

I made dinner for the family tonight! Cooked some mac n' cheese, grilled some Kielbasa, yeah it was pretty great. I even served them on buttered-and-toasted hot dog buns. Yep...cooking, it's just in my genes. It's like culinary delights are my paints and tongues are my canvas. I'm trying to think of other ways to draw this subject out....nope! On to the next!

I can't wait for tomorrow. We're having a Psych Night!...I'm not quite sure what it is. I know Psych is a tv show, and I've seen a couple episodes but don't really remember much. HOWEVER, there will be pineapple-related foods (I guess that's a thing in the show?) and a group of people hanging out at John and Molony's. Only downside is that it starts at around 10 o'clock, which means a late night, given that a trip there is about an hour and 15 min. Worth it though to see molony's smiling face and chipper 'tude.

Rest of the night is gonna be spent trying to get this paper done. Nothing all that interesting, just trying to tie some paragraphs together and then write a cover letter for the whole thing. After that probably going to see if I can get a start on this book about spiritual disciplines that my dad has. Apparently Pastor Anderson said it's one of his favorite books, so I'm looking forward to that. There's ALSO gonna be some PABIG in there too, I haven't forgotten :P

I'll read you tomorrow
David

Pepper Pork

Dear David,

Oh man, I am such a good cook. Tonight I sauteed some garlic (which I peeled and diced by hand) and added cubes of pork (which I cut up myself), chopped green peppers (ditto), broccoli cuts (okay, that one had been frozen and pre-cut), tomatoe pieces (those, however, I did cut up myself), and carrot shavings. Add some soy sauce, some corn starch to thicken the mix, and cook up some rice, and what a wonderful meal I had. I used up a lot of food that needed to be eaten, and I still have plenty enough leftovers for two or three meals. And I love cooking, and it was a nice break from reading all day.

Tomorrow I am going biking with one of my girls. It will be the first day that I ride my new (to me) bike! I am excited, but I have to wake up and pump up the tires and fit it into my car and all that, so I need to get to bed so that I am all rested. Exercise is another one of those things that I know I will enjoy doing, but oh boy is it difficult to convince myself to get out there and move.

Three minutes to spare!
I will read you tomorrow,
~The Princess~

Curry EVERYWHERE

It's your day, but I'm posting anyway.

Wendy invited me to have dinner at their house tonight. She made chicken pot pie with curry in it. I couldn't quite identify what the unique flavor was at first, but when she said it, all I could think of was how much you would've enjoyed that chicken pot pie.

~The Princess~

Orange you glad I'm making you eat a durian?

Hullo Molly,

I have a new obsession. Gritty crime dramas, one in particular actually. Law and Order:SVU. It's pretty brutal, and most likely not a show that you'd want to watch, but there's something really powerful about the characters, especially the two lead detectives benson and stabler, having to deal with all these atrocities on daily basis. What really grasps you about doctor who?

Oh, right, what did I do today. I worked. It rained. The world keeps turning. I tried a dogwood fruit today. Not sure if you know what a dogwood fruit looks like, but if you can picture the pokemon koffing dyed red, you're not too far off. We were trying to think of all the fruits at work we had yet to try, and sure enough dogwood was the last one, which wound up being fine by me because after I took a bite I was done. The inside of the fruit was kind of stringy....hard to describe. Almost like chewing on polly-o string cheese. The flavor was like a really, really over-ripe peach; kind of sweet, kind of bitter. This was all initially spurred on by Jess bringing in some home-made hot sauce, made from some ornamental peppers that we were selling at work. It was mighty tasty with some pretzels. Mmmmm... All this talk about food is making me crave durian...

Wait.

What's that? You've NEVER tried a durian?!

We will have to rectify this! The durian is grown in southeast asia, and is said to have a flavor similar to "...almonds, rotten onions, turpentine and gym socks". It, too, has a consistency similar to string cheese, actually more like a warm, stringy mozzarella found on a pizza. The fruit has been banned in many public places in asia because of just how smelly it is. Even still, there's a large portion of the population that loves it. And I think we should try it. See if there are any asian markets down in nashville! I'm sure you could find one that we could split when I head on down to visit. I'll bring the smelling salts in case one of us passes out from the noxious fumes.




Alrighty, well I'm going to see if I can finish up the second chapter in PABIG, and then it's sleeptime, and then I'll start the process all over again! My trip down to see you can't come soon enough. I miss you.


Goodnight!
Dave
  

Forever single

Hello David!

The thing about Events and Adventures is, the commercials stress meeting new friends, not finding a date. It first asks about do you want to hang out, but all your friends are married? Well we can help! I don't think it IS supposed to be a dating thing. PLUS (and I just thought of this and am rather proud of it) if the purpose were dating, and they were using "single" in a broad sense, then as soon as two people became an item, they would be kicked out of the group! A-ha! See? Incentive to not go to the group looking for a date! But anyway, if I DO find another boyfriend, I'll be sure to warn him that you're gonna bring the smack down on him. Or whatever.

Your girlfriend is a total dork. A very conscientious, organized dork, but a dork nonetheless. As you know, I am planning on watching some episodes of Marble Hornets with one of my freshman girls. After small group tonight, I asked when might be a good time that we could plan for, and as she started to answer [sidenote: it sounds like the TARDIS is landing outside my window. No joke, I actually looked to make sure that couldn't be true, because I am NOT missing out on an opportunity like that] I pulled out my little scheduler to write something down. She sees the little black binder and says, "You are NOT writing Marble Hornets in your scheduler." I was like "Whyyy? I write EVERYTHING in my scheduler! I even have 'David arrives' in my scheduler." She graciously conceded, "If it's like, therapeutic for you, then I GUESS you can..." In the end, I didn't write it down, but we didn't pick an exact date anyway. We just decided that we will watch it on a Thursday night. I'll probably write myself a note to remember that. What she doesn't know can't appall her.

David, I will read you tomorrow!
Love,
~The Princess~

arachnapancakes

Hello Molly,

How was your day? I just realized that I have to post tonight oh crap oh crap. Here it goes. I cleaned up my room today. Like, legit. It looks nice. And now I have a comforter on my bed! Awesome. I was stripping the sheets on my bed earlier today and found a large, squished spider. I had slept on a spider. I freaked out for a second and then peeled it off of my sheets. I've since found several other large-ish spiders dwelling under my bed and behind my dresser. They actually looked a lot like this guy...

Gross. Also, I'm preeeeety sure if they say deliberately that it's for singles, they mean people looking for that special someone. So careful; if I find out you have another boyfriend down there, it's gonna be really awkward when I have to swoop in and kick his butt. I'm hungry, I gotta get something to eat before I hit the sack. Goodnight! I'll talk to you tomorrow.-David

Never give up, never surrender!

Hello David!

I'm making a quick post before I head off to girls small group. I just finished eating dinner--pepper steak and rice, followed by a brownie warmed in the microwave and topped with Hershey's syrup and whipped cream--while watching the season premier episodes of HIMYM. It's a pretty good day. I got through a LOT of reading, and that in NEXT MONTH'S book for the study program, so I'm ahead of the game. I also went for a walk with Benny, my roommate's mom's dog whom we are watching for a week. I got to go explore a trail I had wanted to check out for a while. I think maybe he has asthma, because toward the end on the way back he started wheezing, so I carried him the rest of the way. Yeah, not only did I get some cardio, I got some STRENGTH TRAINING as well. Okay, so the dog is a little white fluff ball, but STILL.

Tomorrow I have a staff meeting, two one-on-one coffee dates, and a one-on-one trip to a thrift store. It will be fun. And then tomorrow night is large group, and this Friday will be the RUF camping trip!

I just signed up online for this thing I heard about on the radio called Events and Adventures, which basically is a company that schedules lots of events, and you can go to them and meet new people. They have a location in Nashville. I thought, hey, this could be a neat way to meet some new friends. So I signed up, and am now super apprehensive because the follow-up screen said they would call shortly. I think my plan is to let it go to voicemail. I'm anxious just thinking about the phone ringing. Here's a little catch though: the site is for "single" people. But it doesn't SEEM like the events have to be for people looking for that special someone. I mean, I've already got a super-special-someone, I just want to make friends. I'm fairly certain that they are using the word single to mean "not married," in which case maybe they will let me join. I dunno. But I thought all this might be good to tell you about...

Lastly: YOU GOT SUNDAYS OFF OF WORK OH MY GOODNESS I AM SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!

I love you, and I better read you tomorrow!
~The Princess~

We suck at this

Dear David,

We keep dropping the ball with this blog. We need to step up our game!

Saturday night I am having a fancy dress-up dinner for some freshman girls at my apartment. We're going to dress to the nines and eat delicious food and have a blast and it will be great. Saturday morning I may actually go biking finally! I just need to pump up my tires and maybe ride around the condo complex a bit to make sure everything is ship-shape. Bike-shape? Schwinn-shape?? Unfortunately it's not a schwinn, so I can't say that. But anyway, you get the idea.

How long do orchid blooms last? The flowers I have have yet to wilt! A couple of them are getting a little bit ragged, but for the most part, they still look quite lovely. I'm so tempted to go get more but I don't know what I would do with bunches of orchids, besides just sit and look at them and keep their leaves from getting dusty. Flowers are so colorful and cheery. Everytime I go to the grocery store, the first thing I see when I walk in is a huge display of bright, happy flowers, and I'm always so tempted to pick up a bouquet or two or another potted plant. The only reason I stop myself is because I realize I could run out of money very quickly giving in to such desires. BUT THEY ARE SO PRETTY!!! Oh goodness, I am such a girl.

I will read you tomorrow!
~The Princess~

Sicky sick sick

Buenos Noches Moll Doll (or should I say Moy Doy...)

Being sick stinks, as I'm sure you know. I spent a good chunk of the day sleeping. Got up, had some muffins that my mom baked, lemon and blueberry yum. Shortly afterwards I filled out another app for Uconn. Then I had dinner a little bit later; we ate red beans and rice, a personal fav. My dad cooked the ham hocks just right so that there was little to no actual pig toe in the beans! I then went to bed, woke up just a little bit ago, and probably gonna hit the sack in a little bit.

I miss you so so much. I miss my best friend :( Tomorrow I think I'll see if maybe John is up for hanging out. I have some homework to finish, but that shouldn't take long at all. Mmmmmmm goodnight. Say a prayer that I get over this cold/whatever it is. I got a bad headache and stuffed sinuses.

I love you!
-Dave

Adventure time!

Dear David,

I. Have found. A friend. I just had such a fun evening with one of the girls I met at the RUF house show Thursday night. We traveled downtown and walked down the streets of Nashville, past about a million karaoke bars, trying to decide which bar to go to. And then, we saw it. An ice cream bar. We were in pretty much simultaneous agreement that we HAD to stop, and we both got ice cream sodas. Then we continued our stroll, and decided on a bar where a band--not a karaoke machine--was playing. It was called the Second Fiddle, and we sat there a while listening to the music and sipping our mixed drinks. Afterward we very intentionally wandered to a "fancy beer bar" called the Flying Saucer, admiring the many old buildings and magnificent churches lining the streets of the city. I got a Strongbow--thank you for introducing me to that most wonderful cider. We sat and talked about life in Nashville so far, and she mentioned "The Dragon," and stood in enthusiastic shock when I told her I had no idea what that was. "We're going there next!" she declared. The Dragon is a gigantic tiled masterpiece in a little park near Venderbilt, covered in a colorful mosaic. It was pretty amazing and beautiful, and the lamp lights in the dark park gave it an all the more magnificent effect. I just got home. What a great adventure!

Tomorrow is Thrift Store Saturday, the trip I organized for the RUF girls. I am so excited! I love thrift stores! And Saturday night is Belmont's Christian Showcase, which as far as I understand is some kind of American Idol like thing for aspiring artists. It's a big event at the university, so I'm pretty pumped. They spent all day today, and will spend all day tomorrow, preparing for it.

Good night, my love! I will read you on Monday!
~The Princess~

Cop Out

Phew!

I didn't know if I was gonna make it. I completely forgot I had to post tonight. What to post, what to post...

UGH, there's nothing going on in my life. I miss you. Here's what I'm going to do:

Blam.

^That's a placeholder. If i can think of ANYTHING interesting, anything at all, I will post it there.

Disappointing, yes. But there's really nothing to post. I love you. Goodnight.

-The Mouse

And the thunder rolls...

Hello my wonderful David!

Lightning crackles outside my window; thunder shakes my room. My just-add-ice orchid sits staring out the window, as if transfixed, while one solitary bloom turns its head to look at me, with its dragon-like mouth agape, as if screaming a warning. The effect is quite eerie. But I do love thunder storms.

Have you ever heard of Egyptian revival? It's a style of architecture and decoration, just like how we have Greek and Roman revival. I went to a church the other night that had a sanctuary decked out like an Egyptian temple. It was the strangest sanctuary you've ever seen. The walls were tan with red and green and orange geometric designs. Tall pillars stood at the front of the room, with elaborate designs. The stained-glass windows depicted scenes of palm trees and the sun and reeds.At the front of the sanctuary was a gigantic pipe organ, stretching all the way to the ceiling, with the wings of a bird adorning the top. The carpet was blood red. It was built in 1849-50. You don't see too many buildings with such a unique design, and I could hardly believe it was a church. Tell you what, though, I would LOVE to sit in there and be read the story of Moses. Oh my goodness, what a setting!

You didn't post last night, but I GUESS the fact that you were with your BFFL in the Emergency Room is a good enough excuse. So I'll let it slide...this time.

Mouseboy, I better read you tomorrow!
~The Princess~

Remember the Alamo!...and, that I need to post tonight...

Hello my David!

I will admit, I almost forgot to post. What a shame that would be! I might be issued a challenge that I could then put off for weeks and weeks past the original time it was assigned. Oh boy, just think of all the time that wouldn't take up! Imagine how many other things I could do instead of actually accomplishing what I committed to doing back in April!

I hope your sarcasm detectors are going off right about now. I also realize that guilt is a sucky and often useless motivator, but yeah, I'm a little bit disappointed and irked by your lack of follow-through. Tsk tsk.

I've got some more indie bands to run by you (collected from my students):
Faded Paper Figures
Passion Pit
Miike Snow (yes, that's Mike with two i's)

I just got back from girls' small group. There were 22 girls there. Holy crap. We decided to study 1 John, which is cool, because I was in a small group on John's epistles this past spring, and also a bit disappointing, because I was in a small group on John's epistles this past spring. But there is tea and cookies and a Tim Keller study guide, so all is well.

I'm lonely. So to combat my loneliness, I'm going to write lots of letters, in the hopes of making people happy and maybe getting some back. Oh, speaking of letters, I filled out a change of address form today with the USPS. Stupid postal service, not giving me my mail. Marcia sent me a letter and it got returned to sender, very likely because the post office doesn't like to ASK and see if just MAYBE the addressee does indeed live at the location written on the envelope. Can you tell I'm a little upset? This isn't the first time I've dealt with that problem; once I sent a letter to Chris, but I addressed it to Jim Darkmagic, and it got returned. I was pretty mad, and I wrote in big letters on the next one:

Christopher Caporaso
a.k.a. Jim Darkmagic
Maybe you should ASK before assuming who does and does not live at said address.

Wow, this is a really snippy post. Sorry about that. I'm going to watch an episode of Doctor Who and then be off to bed. I've taken to setting my watch across the room so that when the alarm goes off in the morning, I have to get out of bed to shut it off. It's a rather brilliant idea, I think, and it works really well, although I cursed my cleverness this morning when I realized there was no longer a snooze button conveniently located on my wrist. But I was happy to have more hours of the day spent being productive. Or at least conscious.

I will read you tomorrow!
Love,
~The Princess~

Every cloud that should have passed overhead two weeks ago has a silver lining

WELL LOOK AT THAT.

Somebody forgot to post. For shame... I worked so hard to post on wednesday, pretty much prying my eyelids open just to stay awake. And for what? Only to have YOU, my GIRLFRIEND, FORGET to POST. If you read only the caps in the last sentence it sounds like you're dating a caveman.

Anyhoo, I FINALLY got into my class! I'm IN. And get this, all missed work counts as partial credit for up to two weeks after the due date, though honestly I'm going to send an email to my instructor and explain the situation and see if there's anything I can do about that. Had everything gone swimmingly, I would've been signed up on time but dumb sallie mae has to go and live up to their reputation and completely drop the ball. Sigh.

I think I'll read the 2nd chapter  of PABIG tonight, seeing as you're out at Sacred Harp. Maybe we'll chat later on tonight; I'm anxious to hear if you conducted (I know, I know, but I can hope right?)

Love you darlin

Nezumi Kozo (look it up)

Your boyfriend is boring today.

IT NEVER ENDS. Still haven't been accepted into the class. Dunno what's going wrong, something on sallie mae's part I assume...

My day was ordinary.

UGH, I stopped typing about 20 minutes ago because I couldn't think of anything to type! We had chicken and dumplings for dinner, which was excellent. My mom made two different types; one made from bisquick and another from homemade dough. The homemade batch was like strips of noodles, which was awesome. The bisquick batch was a bread milkshake, which you'd think would be right up my alley, but no.

Hanging out with John was fun. Molony, Ali and Joey Pinola were also there. We played scrabble, watched some tv, ate some dinner and walked around the drive in behind their apartment. I never got to use my favorite scrabble word, saloop. Look it up.

Bed soon. My days are merging together again, which is not good. I have to find some way to break the monotony. Hmph. This isn't a real exciting post. Well...I guess not every post is going to be exciting, though mine as of late have been really humdrum. I miss you. I wish you were here. I'm gonna go to bed :P

Love,
Your Mouse (in need of some excitement)

Really?

David...really? You're gonna play the Holiday card to get out of posting on Labor Day? That's pretty lame, my friend. I don't know what I think about that...but I'll let it slide. This time.

In other news: congratulations on getting into the class you needed! Rah rah rah! I'm so happy for you! See, the loan people aren't so terrible after all. In fact, if we have a daughter, I think we should name her Sallie Mae. Isn't that pretty?

Yes, I am being facetious.

Whew! Interning is a full time job! Today I worked from 9AM to 10PM with only an hour break for dinner. Yes, that's 12 hours. I can haz sleep now? Tomorrow I'm helping Kevin stuff envelopes with his support letters, then I have a one-on-one at 12:30, and then I'm meeting with John Stone, my area coordinator (dun dun DUN!!!) at 2. And my freshman girls' small group meets at 8, and I still have a little more to prepare for that. Thursday, however...Thursday will be nice. I think Thursday will be my resting day, although I do have a one-on-one scheduled, but it's just one...so far, at least.

I've been super tired recently. I don't think it's because I'm always rushing here and there, and it's not due to lack of sleep. I thought about it today and was like, "But I've been getting like nine or ten hours of sleep each--oh..." Yeah, I think the problem is I've been sleeping TOO MUCH. And that leads to a cycle, because 10 PM comes around and I'm ready to hit the sack, and then I wake up at 8. I'm pretty sure I've past the point where I can continue blaming it on the time zone difference, so tonight I'm going to finish posting, and then FORCE MYSELF to watch an episode of Dr. Who. I know, strenuous, right?Anyway, that should take me to just before midnight, and I have my alarm set for 7:30AM. I function best on seven and a half hours of sleep. So we will see...

I miss you so much. I cannot WAIT until you are able to come visit.

Love,
~Your Princess~

94?

Hello David!

I've never seen Risky Business, so I don't know what you're talking about, but...and I hesitate to say this...knock yourself out? I may regret allowing that costume choice.

So, according to the official count of posted posts on the right side of the blog, this post is number 94, but the dashboard number says it is 102. Maybe we double posted, and deleted one, or something like that? Or maybe it's a crazy time zone discrepancy thing. Or maybe there are 8 ghost posts floating around our blog somewhere. That would be terrifying.

Speaking of terrifying--when I don't get to go on long anticipated clue hunts, I get ANGRY. And you don't wanna see me angry! It's not a pretty sight. You gotta getcha-getcha-getcha head in the game!

I have yet to adjust to the central time zone here. Either that, or I've just adjusted to a different schedule of early to bed, early to rise, which isn't such a terrible thing if I have nothing to stay up late for. It didn't work so well Tuesday night after large group, however, when everyone was hanging out at the Sonic, and I turned in early. And I don't anticipate movie nights going too swimmingly in that case either. We shall see.

I'm gonna shower and go to bed! The girls are hiking around Radnor lake in the morning, I have a one-on-one late afternoon, and then perhaps a trip to Centennial Park in the evening for some free music, and to see the Parthenon replica they have there--crazy stuff, man.

Love,
~The Princess~

So I'm just doing my thang, walking across the rails-to-trails behind Bosco's when a police officer on a bike rode by and informed me of a bear on the trails. I didn't think much of it at the time, but no more than 5 minutes later A BEAR WAS WALKING THROUGH THE ARBORVITES!!! On all fours, it must have been around 5 feet tall, standing on its hind legs...man, it would've been huge. Funniest part was after everyone rushed out to see it in the field, it wandered back into the rails to trails, and riding towards it was a guy on a bike, who soon realized just what exactly that big black furry thing on the road was, and promptly picked up his bike, turned it around and sped off like a madman. What fun!

Oh yeah, other than that my day was boring. I went out to dinner with the rents to chili's where we got this really socially awkward waiter who made the same joke a bunch of times. ("Chicken Crispers? We're all out. A clean knife? We're all out.") Food was good though, and afterwards we stopped by the dollar store and I got a sweet new pair of sunglasses for a dollar at the dollar store. They were wayfarers, which made me think I should be tom cruise from risky business for Halloween. Yes? No?

I love you, Goodnight!

BoyMouse

BOOYAH 100!!!

And to think: I was about to take a shower and go to bed and forget to post tonight! I'm so glad I remembered! I knew this day was coming, and I'm just so glad that this momentous occasion happens to be on one of my posting days. Let's just take a moment and reflect on the past almost-five months, and bask in the glory that is...

THE ONE HUNDREDTH POST

Oh no. I just realized, this needs to be good. This is an important moment. This post needs to be memorable. I can't waste this great opportunity. Oh, the pressure! I don't think I can handle it. The cursor is blinking and all I can do is babble on anxiously, hoping in vain for inspiration to arise or fount or explode, or whatever verb is usually associated with the appearance of inspiration. I can't take it anymore! C'mon, Molly, THINK! Write something!


Dear David,

I'm going to bed now.

Love,
~Your Princess~

To-Do List and Axe Bird!

Hm, ok. So this is what I have to get done:

1.) CLUE HUNT. I just realized something yesterday that will make this much more difficult, and that is that there are only so many sites at which I can manipulate the words and pictures freely and quickly. So it's taking some time...
2.) COMPILE THAT DANG VIDEO! Well, it's not a dang video, it's one you'll enjoy, I just have to get off of my butt and get to work on recording the last of it!
4.) Read more in "Putting the amazing back in grace". More of a personal goal, but I'm sure you'd appreciate me doing it just the same :P
5.)Remember to throw a number 3 in there.

Ok! I'm off to bed, I love you and I will talk to you tomorrow.

Also, ENTERTAINMENT:http://www.todaysbigthing.com/2011/08/29

I'm gonna teach our pet banana slug to do that when we get an apartment together.

Love,
Your Mouse

How convenient

Hello there, David!

Well, well, well. You ask for a couple days' grace on your clue hunt, and promise it will be up by Sunday night, and CONVENIENTLY hurricane Irene rolls through town, taking out your power and cutting you off from the interwebz. Sounds like a conspiracy to me. I expect a clue hunt tomorrow!

This week is going to be even busier than the last. The campus ministry fair was today. Tomorrow I have 4 one-on-ones scheduled, and large group meets tomorrow night. Wednesday is the activities fair, and that night my freshman girls' small group begins (we're studying Galatians). Thursday my book reports are due. Whew! But I like keeping busy. I go crazy when I have too much down time.

I was in Bongo Java today reading for the study program, and I once again came across a mention of "God's covenant promises to the children of believers." I'm not sure I fully understand what is meant by that, but I think it's basically a covenant passed down through generations. The Hebrews had circumcision to set them apart; we have baptism. Baptism is a sign and a seal, and just as babies were circumcised under God's covenant, so also are babies now baptized under the new covenant. Does God give particular grace to the children of believers? Are they somehow more likely to receive salvation (besides for the obvious reason that they are more likely to be exposed to the Gospel)? I'm not entirely sure what the answers to these questions are, but there's something there, and the topic keeps coming up again and again, so I feel like God is trying to teach me something. I know that I've worried in the past, "what if I bring up a child, and he or she isn't a believer?" and this new concept gives me new hope. I want to learn more.

I've also been reading about the presence of the trinity in the Old Testament, and it's blowing my mind. I have a lot left to read, so I will have to expound on that in another post, but it's pretty cool, let me tell you.

How is your reading going? And what happened to your idea of writing about what you're reading in scripture?

I will read you tomorrow!
Love,
~The Princess~

Yeah, about that clue hunt...

Alright, after much toil and brain straining, here it is! Hope it lives up to your expectations:

Love,
The Mouse

Books, books, books!

Hey there my David!

The HOW MANY books I've given you? I do believe Dogs of Babel and Doing Things Right in Matters of the Heart are in there as well, mister. But the two you're talking about are most important. I'd really like you to start with Putting Amazing Back into Grace, as that has some serious foundational stuff in it that will rock your world, but if you insist on starting with Piper, please give the Horton book to my dad to read first (drop it off at the bank, maybe, or give it to your mom to give to him at church or something).

Today I may be meeting with three new girls for coffee or ice cream! I'm also meeting with Syneva, the former intern here. So much to do! I have to get my car from the shop (waiting for a ride) and also go to Best Buy to pick up a router and other various necessities for my apartment. Oh, how I miss you! I've been super busy enough that my mind is usually preoccupied, so I've been able to avoid most of the weighty sadness, but when I do start to think about you, my heart aches to see you. I can't wait until you visit. There are so many amazing things down here! Great places to eat, neat little stores, beautiful places to stroll, a ZOO (which I haven't been to yet, but they have monkeys and elephants!) I passed Martina McBride's house yesterday, and will likely see some famous person or another wandering around town. And Belmont is hipster central. Everything here is indie--there's even an indie movie theater I plan to take you to! I can't wait to see you, my love.

Or you, Smeth, I know you're reading. ;-)

Well, I need to start my crazy day! I agree it would be good to talk to each other every day. I don't have a concrete schedule yet, so right now talking first thing in the morning is pretty perfect for me--it's such a wonderful way to start my day! And then in the evening, I'll give you a call or text you if I have downtime, so you don't end up calling in the middle of something and feel brushed off. I wish I could have you here with me, but I guess talking on the phone will have to do for now. Letters coming soon! :-D

Love,
~The Princess~

I think I miss you

You are so far away! It's hard to wrap my head around. I know we text, but I think I'm going to make a point of calling you every day. Otherwise I'm just gonna up and forget about you. ...Joking! Srsly though, I think making a point of calling is a good idea.

Today was spent getting school stuff sorted out and mowing the lawn. When we get older, we are never, ever ever going to get a loan from sallie mae; they are just absolutely awful to deal with. School should be moving along swimmingly though; I got an A in my mythology class, ^5. Uhhhhh...what else has been happening...

Missing you, I've been doing a lot of that, yeah. I think I might start reading Looking for Alaska AFTER I finish the two books you've given me. I think I'll start the John Piper one tonight.

Hm...Did I mention that I miss you? I don't think I did. I miss you. I will hopefully talk to you soon. Goodnight!

-The Mouse

Yes, Southward Bound

Oh boy. I'm headed to Tennessee tomorrow. I feel nervous, excited, sad, anxious, apprehensive, joyful...an exhaustive and exhausting list of emotions. Just got a new phone, new number, new texting abilities. I still have last-minute packing to do (ahhh!!!!), and this message will be short. I will miss you so, so much David. But we will talk and text and write, and BLOG. So, we're canceling out the past two days again. And you still have two challenges to complete!

I can't think right now. So much to do!

Love,
~The Princess~

Southward bound!

4 days! 4 days until you head on down to Tennessee. I'm not gonna say any more on it...here's my opinion on those bands

Árstíðr- Not really my thing...good try 

Throw Me The Statue - Have actually heard of a song of theirs before but didn't like it.

Rolla Olak - I like it! A little bit jam bandy, but not too much so that it turns into an unfocused mess. B

Low Low Low La La La Love Love Love - What were they thinking. This is an awful band name. It's so pretentious that I almost dislike the music. Almost. It's not bad, but nothing I haven't heard before, just some more downer folk. C-

The Chairs - Huh. Kinda like fleet foxes and some indie pop stuff. It's aight

I am very surprised. I thought I would outright dislike everything you threw at me, but here I am digging songs by a couple of these artists and actually doing more research on Rolla Olak. Mission excellently accomplished girlfriend! :D

In other news, I am very much looking forward to my challenge! This will be a little tough but a whole lotta fun. I've already got a couple sites in mind that have ample choice words and pictures that'll be great for this type of thing. I'm super cited. 

Goodnight Molly! I love you and will talk to you tomorrow.

-The Mouse

Follow the bread crumbs...

Hello David!

Little rhymes for the tombstones, eh? I'm sure I can come up with something! I love "Hosta la vista, baby," by the way. And yes, I know hosta is a type of plant. :-P Well, here are some definite keepers:

Don't worry, there's always rein-carnation.


Croak our grandmother
Croak our friends 
And now, crocus


Beware the chrysanthe-mummy!


Thyme runs out so quickly.
RIP Herb


Here lie Rosemary and Lily
They got ahold of Miracle Grow, and drank themselves silly


Here lies Weeping Willow
"Don't pine for me"

And, my personal favorite:


Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
I am dead
Buy stuff from Bosco's


I know what you're thinking, and yes, you do have the cleverest girlfriend ever. You're welcome.

And now for your challenge! You must create an internet clue hunt that has at least four steps and takes at least five minutes to complete. The first clue must be posted on this blog on Friday, August 26th (and obviously the clue hunt must be fully in place by the time of said posting). You can use whatever medium you want to make your clues, but the hunt must be entirely online, and it must be completeable by anyone who reads this blog (in other words, no obscure inside jokes). Good luck! Can't wait!

See you and read you tomorrow,
~The Princess~

Dumb classical mythology

Bleh, quick post for the night.

I have not heard any of those bands! So I will commence the googling tomorrow. Morning. I'm too tired right now. I've been posting discussions, but...everything about the topic has already been discussed! I'm racking my brain to think of anything we haven't touched upon, and it's tough. Lesson learned: don't put off till tomorrow what you can easily do today.

What happened today...hmmm hmmmm....Went to work, got home, ate dinner, lecture, discussions...yep. We're already getting ready for the fall at Bosco's. We're trying to think up crazy and funny little rhymes to put on tombstones for halloween, which I feel is right up your alley. If you think of any, lemme know. All I have right now is "Hosta la vista, baby" (hosta is a type of plant, fyi).

Hope you're having fun with John tonight. I'm going to bed, I'm having trouble keeping my eyes open.

Goodnight my Molly

-David

Indie Boy

Hello David!

I've been searching, and I've found a few bands to run by you. I'm hoping there are at least two on this list that you haven't heard of AND you like. Or at least can tolerate.

As for your challenge...I'm still thinking about that one. I'll have it for you by Friday. You just keep working on your long overdue vlog.

I spent today reading for the internship. And I only fell asleep once! I don't really have anything to talk about...oh, hey, how about that hacker group that's gonna take down Facebook? Pretty epic, huh? Yeah, that's all I've got. Now for your eagerly awaited list.

Árstíðr

Throw me the Statue

Rolla Olak

Low Low Low La La La Love Love Love

The Chairs

Challenge completed?

~The Princess~

Housecleaning

Alright. FINE.

So I realize I've got a list of things that I've gotta get a jump on. Yeah yeah yeah...I'm getting there. Ok, so where to start....right, facebook. Ok, let's see...go to profile...edit....huh, ok that's weird, nothing happened. Lemme try reloading the page.... o_o OH wait actually nevermind. I wrote the previous part after several attempts and failures at editing my page, and I'm not going to lie to you, the thought of changing my music tastes really rustles my jimmies. But a deals a deal, and a challenge is a challenge. Fine.

NOW. For your challenge. This is going to be a little homework assignment to keep you busy while I'm doing mythology work or whateves. Your challenge is to find two bands/artists/musicians that you think I would find interesting that I have not heard of yet. Shouldn't be too hard; I know to you I might seem like a boundless archive of musical wonders, but there are 14 bands I haven't heard of, I counted. So it should be EASY to find only two. I tip my hat to you.

-Love
His Musicness

Step it up

Hello David!

What a beautiful day! The clouds are gathering, the temperature's dropping, the wind's a-blowing, your next challenge is brewing... C'mon now, we need to step it up a little bit. Things are about to get crazy, and we can't be neglecting this blog, or the challenges will just keep piling up! You still need to edit your vlog, and change your music tastes (which only takes a second so I don't know why you haven't done that yet!!!), not to mention assign ME a mini-challenge. Time's up, David. Let's get down to business (to defeat BOOM BOOM the Huns). In the hopes that you change your music tastes and at least get that challenge out of the way by the time you post tomorrow, I'm going to hold off on giving you your next challenge until Wednesday or Friday, partly because I still have to think one up, and partly to give you time to get your rear in gear.

I just spoke to Kevin Twit, my new campus minister, on the phone. He's found me more contacts to support my internship. My co-intern, Chase, is now ahead of me in fundraising (darn that Chase! jk) so Kevin is working really hard to help me out, which is wonderful. I've sent out reminder post cards, made some phone calls, e-mailed and facebooked some contacts, etc. I'm confident that the funds will be raised, it's just a matter right now of whether they will be raised by the time I want to head to campus, August 20th. That's apparently move in day on the Belmont campus (of course, I'm not staying on the campus, but the point is that I'll be there when students are arriving), and there is a leadership retreat Monday and Tuesday that would be neat to go on, but Kevin said he's never had an intern make it for that, so it's no big deal. And Friday the 26th is Belmont's involvement fair, which I'd also like to be at. I know you don't want me to go, but would you please be praying for me to get there in time for all this?

I've been really sleepy all day today. I took a power nap this morning, and another nap just recently, around 3. I went to the bank and ate lunch with my dad today. He told me all about his trip to Honduras, and says he wants me to go with him next year! Unfortunately, it falls on the week of RUF summer training, so I would have to see if an exception could be made for me. But it sounds like an exciting opportunity!

I will read you tomorrow (I hope!)
Love,
~The Princess~

Stamps, stamps, and more stamps

Dear David,

I keep meaning to ask the postman in the North Granby post office his name, because I've seen him so many times this summer, and I'd like to be able to walk in and say, "Hi George," or, "Hey, Pete," or, "What's up, Mr. Michaelson?" Why have I visited the post office so often? Because I've bought lots and lots of stamps. Today I bought 50 post card stamps (which cost 29 cents, just FYI), adding to the 40 I bought yesterday. I'm mailing out update/reminder postcards for the internship. I've bought close to, if not more than, 100 regular stamps over the course of the summer, for mailing support letters and personal letters. I bet I could completely cover my whole head with the number of stamps I've bought. Then I could be a super hero! Stamp Girl, with the power of POSTAGE! Watch as she travels slowly all over the world! Her only weakness is THE INTERNET! See her fight crime, protest e-mails, and lick copious amounts of ENVELOPES!

I think this could catch on.

Yours truly,
~The Princess~

Wowowow

I sat down with my parents and we talked about their trip to Cranberry Island in Maine. I give, you were right; they didn't stay in a tent, the stayed with the Mocarskys. The island itself was only about a mile and a bit long, but on it lived some really really cool people, like this one guy who, in the middle of his house, had a 6 story tower! One floor had a Jacuzzi, another had a room dedicated to jelly beans, another to pool tables.... the people that lived on the island were mostly artists and lobstermen (not like monsters, but guys that fished for lobsters). There was one person in particular that really stuck with my parents, and his name is Ashley Bryan:

 Ashley is an amazing storyteller and artist. Mr. Mocarsky introduced my parents to Ashley, who promptly greeted them with a hug and welcomed them into his home. They were telling me about his house, which actually sounded more like a piece of art than a home; all the walls, literally every square foot was covered in little trinkets and thingamabobs that he found interesting or perplexing. There were walls dedicated to to motorcycles, scraps of things he found on the beach, japanese robots, just...anything and everything. It sounded and looks amazing. Even more amazing are his works of art, a couple pieces of which are shown in the picture above. He created that stained glass out of what is called "beach glass"; every piece of glass you see above is from glass that has been thrown into the ocean, and after time has been smoothed by the constant shifting on the shore. He's then taken all of the pieces he could find and actually has created images which depict stories from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, (those are the books he started with) and is continuing on with other books from the Bible! It just completely blew my parents' minds, and I have to agree, we NEED to visit this amazing person some time! I'd love to hear about his walk with Christ and how it translated into his artwork.

Ok, I'm going to bed. Goodnight my love! I'll talk to you tomorrow!

-The Mouse

p.s. I accept your challenge and am trying hard to think up a mini one of my own. Get. Ready.

The Bread Challenge

Hello David!

It's finally FINISHED! The long awaited video proof of my completion of the Bread Challenge which you gave me a few weeks ago. I'm pretty stoked, if you can't tell. Check out the video on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/mollerz104#p/a/u/0/sWDJnrpXBK0

Speaking of challenges, we've decided to give each other a reprieve for our skipped posts this week, considering we're both really busy and both already have a missed day to make up for. You still need to do the mini-challenge I posted last week, and you still need to assign me a mini-challenge for my previous miss.

Today has been an alright day. This morning we took my car in to the mechanic...and I still haven't heard back from them. I guess I will have to call them if they don't call me. *Gulp* You know how much I dislike making phone calls. Later this morning, guys from Bob's Discount Furniture came to drop off our new couch and love seat, which are pretty sweet. Tonight the Pinsons, a family from church, are putting on a dessert for me at their home, so I can talk to more people about the RUF internship. My support raising is going well! I only have $13,000 to go before I can leave for campus! I'm pretty excited, but also pretty apprehensive, as you well know. I sure am going to miss you. We may have some pretty sappy posts coming up in the near future. Sorry, readers.

I look forward to your feedback on the video, and your decision on what my mini challenge will be.

I will read you tomorrow!
Love,
~The Princess~

Mercy?

I realized this morning I was supposed to post yesterday. This is me asking for a reprieve. Or at least two little quick challenges (one for this time, one for last time--and you need to address the challenge I gave you!)

Love,
~The Princess~

Manzana Grande Peligroso

Hey Molly,

SO, New York was pretty excellent. John and I started out from Grand Central Station and puttered about for a little while, visiting nearby stores in Times Square. Highlights include the Lego store, the Nintendo Store (at which John found very necessary to remark on their declining game line up), the M&M store, and the Hershey store, which was actually right across from the M&M store! ...And was a lot smaller, like a lot a lot.

After that, we headed down to Soho and hung out on the docks. It was very wet. Then we took the subway to the MoMa, where we saw the after hours exhibition of modern video games. I kid you not, 99% of the people there were hipsters. Like hardcore, pabst-blue ribbon drinking, flannel wearing hipsters. I actually pointed out to John when I found another guy that was "normal" and un-hipsterish. Most of the games presented we'd already heard of, and in our own way we scoffed at the masses and laughed at how mainstream their tastes were.

Wait! No first, before we went to the MoMa we went to the Brick in Brooklyn, a little hole in the wall theater. From the outside I thought it looked awesome, but John was a little intimidated and was REALLY hoping it wasn't going to be a really small venue. And it was. But it was still great! The play was interactive, and set up in the style of an adventure game like that Monkey Island one we started playing; a person in the audience would tell the guy on stage to go pick up a phone, and he would. Interactive! There was more to it than just that but it would take way way too long to type, so I'll tell you all about it tomorrow after you've read this post. John LOVED it, and thought it would be excellent for the agents, and I gotta agree. You would have loved it.

We headed back to Grand Central, caught the train...and you know the rest :P

There are many more blanks that I'll fill in when we chat about it! But now time for tending to you. Love you :)

-The Mouse

Phone calls in the night

Dear David,

Praise God I didn't lose you last night! My goodness, you had me worried! You call at 6:30 AM and catch me half asleep, so I miss out on your story, then later this morning I see you also called at 2 AM, and I thought to myself, good heavens what did that boy get himself into??? I won't spoil the story by giving away the exciting details of your adventure in my post, but I expect a detailed account on the blog tomorrow, because you certainly had an interesting night! So readers, expect an awesome update tomorrow.

How was the museum and the show? That part I didn't get to ask you about, and I'm very curious! Training week in Atlanta is going well. Yesterday we went out to dinner at a place called Gladys Knight's Chicken and Waffles. Everyone at my table ordered the Midnight Train, which is the special. It's a waffle that comes with four friend chicken wings. And it was delicious. I decided that I needed to make two videos of the week after all--one for my support channel, and one for my regular channel which chronicles all the interny awesomeness of the week.

I need to write some thank you notes to supporters, and then I have prayer group from 1:30-4:30, so I need to sign off. Can you believe that I WILL GET TO SEE YOU TOMORROW NIGHT??? Just let that sink in a little bit. I recommend you make your post early in the day, or else you will forget!

I haven't forgotten that I need to challenge you, by the way! I said our challenges for this past forgetfulness should be simpler than in the past. I have a lovely one for you. Right now under favorite music, you have Jennifer Love Hewitt twice (I assume John did that...), In Spades, and "Little of this, little of that." Your challenge is to delete all your listings under Favorite Music, and replace them with Owl City, Dave Matthews Band, Matchbox 20, and the Dixie Chicks. You may neither add to nor take away from this list, nor can you give any explanation to account for the change.

I will read you tomorrow.
Love,
~The Princess~

The Big Cantaloupe!

Oh Snap,

Looks like you just dropped a knowledge bomb on me. My girlfriend is so smart and well read. Yeah, I didn't read chapter 1, and I probably should have, but everything you wrote was very insightful! I think you're right, having a little bit of structure in my reading would probably help in understanding what I'm reading. So that's gonna be the new game plan.

Today's post is going to be very short because, as you know, I'm heading to New York today! John and I are going to see an arcade exhibit at the MoMA, and then we're off to Brooklyn to catch a video game themed play at the Brick, a neat little video game themed theater. I'm leaving the house at around 10, hoping to get to new haven in time to catch the metro at 11:58 (yeah, it doesn't take nearly that long, I know). The MoMA exhibit actually starts at around 7. So what are we going to do in the meantime, you ask?

No clue. But it'll be an adventure! It'll be great. Alright, I gotta go. I love you!

-The Mouse

Scripture, justification, sanctification, and...circumcision?

Hello my David!

I would encourage you to stick to a book once you've started it, rather than skipping around. If you want to read Galations, start at the beginning (did you already read the first chapter? you just didn't mention that) and read to the end, before going on to another book. If you read an entire book, you can sometimes get more out of it than if you just read one random chapter, because there are themes and connections that run throughout the book. You can go through two books at the same time, but I wouldn't recommend just reading here and there. I'm totally behind your "game plan" plan.

I read your post, then grabbed my Bible and read Galations 1 and 2 myself to see what you were talking about. I think you missed some of the context in which Paul is writing which would add richness to the passage. The "spies" that Paul talks about were not trying to derail his faith. When Paul was in Antioch, false teachers came down from Judea and started preaching that the Gentiles had to be circumcised in order to be saved, which "brought Paul and Barnabus into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question" (Acts 15:2). Paul had not been preaching the gospel cautiously; he had been sent by Christ to spread the good news to the Gentiles, and he did that boldly. Rather, when a dispute arose over the necessity of circumcision, it grew to such a fever pitch that it was wisely decided that the apostles in Jerusalem ought to be consulted.

In Galations 2, upon arriving in Jerusalem, Paul says that he "set before [the apostles] the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain" (verse 2). He was not awaiting reassurance that he was doing a good job preaching the gospel message, for he says very plainly in chapter one that "when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus" (15-17, emphasis added). Paul was completely certain that he was preaching Christ's Gospel, which he "received...by revelation from Jesus Christ" (1:12). The race he is talking about running is the sharp debate he had been having with the false teachers who were preaching Christ and circumcision. He came to seek out the counsel of the apostles in the matter, to check whether in this disputable matter he was correct in his teaching. Indeed, the very next sentence says, "Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek" (verse 4).

As for how natural the language sounds, I can totally relate to your surprise, because I am constantly amazed at how accessible the Bible's language is. Growing up, I always thought the Bible was full of flowery, old language that was difficult and boring. Reading it now, I am discovering, book after book, just how wrong I was, and I love this discovery.

Today's training is all about purposes, principles, and presuppositions. I'm learning a lot of interesting stuff. Much of it I have recently read about, but it is nonetheless exciting and there are plenty of details and illustrations that are new to me, so I am very much enjoying the sessions today. Tonight at 6 we are gathering for worship, and then we've been split up to go out in dinner groups to fellowship with each other. I tried to call you between sessions, but it went to voicemail! What's up with that? :-P Maybe I will be able to talk to you tomorrow.

Love,
~Your Princess~

Galatians? More like sensation!...al...

Hey Molly,

I think I'll begin to read scripture with more of a game plan instead of just randomly choosing a verse like I am now. Or maybe I'll go a couple days reading in order then out of the blue one day I'll choose something different. So many possibilities... Maybe I'll work the Fibonacci sequence in there somehow...

Tonight I read Galatians chapter 2, which followed Paul as he headed back to Jerusalem with Titus and Barnabus to preach the Gospel. There were a couple parts that stood out to me in this chapter. The first of which was a phrase that Paul uses. In verse 2 he writes "I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain." In context, he's referring to presenting his message to the leaders of the church in Jerusalem. I was just surprised by the language he used, and how natural it sounded. I could almost see him with slight apprehension when talking to John and the rest, and them reassuring him that he's doing fine. It was a very human action and kind of made me chuckle.

Another part that I found interesting was his cautiousness in teaching because of recent infiltration into his group by spies, who had joined wanting to break apart their faith. When I think of obstacles that distance me from God, they're usually inward; it's very rare that I run into something or someone which's goal is to harm me spiritually. That's probably due to my own aloofness more than anything else, but it's scary to think people would have gone so far as to actually spy on them and try to do them harm. Makes me rethink whether it was more difficult to be a Christian then or today.

Alright, I'm off to bed and to reflect upon this a little bit more. I feel like there's something more here that I'm missing. Goodnight! Read you man(tilde)ana.

-Your Mouse

Taking a turn

Yo yo yo Cameron,

Why exactly was the last post addressed to Molony?

Heat stroke! Poor baby! Bah, you're always getting sick! Drink more water or something. Just kidding.

My time in Florida is drawing to an end. Tomorrow morning I am heading out to North Carolina to my uncle's house in the mountains. I hear it's beautiful. I feel like this vacation has been a little rushed, but what can you do?

Oh my goodness, there's a commercial on TV saying, "You're single. You're Christian. And you're looking for someone to love. Sometimes we wait for God to make the next move..." and then it advertizes a dating site called christianmingle.com. That would never fly up north. Not that I think it's a great idea in the first place, but just sayin'.

I love to read whatever you post, especially if it is somthing you are excited about. If you find some scriptural passages you want to share and comment on, I'd love to hear them! But I also want to hear about what's going on in your life, especially once I'm down in TN. I think your idea is a great one, though.

It's thundering outside! Nothing like a crazy Florida thunderstorm to cool off a crazy-hot Florida day. This keyboard has sticky keys, so I have to type slowly and it's annoying.

I will read you on Monday! We both need to get our videos posted! And come up with another challenge for each other! What do you say to mini-challenges this time? I'd much rather have more time to spend with you than on a challenge.

Love,
~The Princess~

Shorty

Hey Molony,

Today was really hot and I had to work outside. Worse combination than brushing your teeth and then drinking orange juice. I got mild heat stroke today, which was not as much fun as it sounds, and the combination of heat and stroke does not sound very fun to me. I felt really really nauseated and dizzy, and even the boscos were saying that I should come in for a break, so I did.

I'm finding that my days are becoming more and more samey, so I think in future posts I'll talk more about what verses of scripture I'm reading and maybe reflect on them. I think it'd be neat. Thoughts?

Bed Time. Peace out. Love you.

Mouse boioioi

Smile, you're in Orlando!

Welcome to Florida, land of the wonderful, loving grammies with horrible, slow interwebz. There's no wireless at my grandma's house, so I am using her computer, which is kind of slow. Also, my choices for browser were Internet Explorer (you know how I hate that clicking noise) and AOL Desktop 9.6 (???). Although I chose AOL, I can't exactly say there's a clear winner there.

I noticed my grandma's virus definitions were out of date, so I tried to update, but she's using something called EMBARQ, and I have no idea what to do. I'll probably look it up online tomorrow, but the computer was so painfully slow today I couldn't stand to work on it for too long. I ran a complete scan, and 4 spyware things were found; 3 were deleted, 1 was quarantined. No viruses, but with expired definitions, if there was one would it be detected? Also, her sound icon disappeared from the lower right corner of the screen, and when I opened sound and audio in the control panel, it said there was no device found, even though we had just played a video on youtube (before the computer slowed to a freeze and we had to restart). And yes, the speakers are plugged in properly. Any ideas?

I just got back from my Uncle Russell and Aunt Becky's house. We went swimming in their beautiful screened-in pool, and then watched Idiocracy in their in-home theater, which is amazing. (Crap, I meant to take a clip of it...) I think you would like Idiocracy; it's made by the creators of King of the Hill. Enough said. Also, their little poodle dog is AMAZINGLY ADORABLE. I have some footage I'll edit later this week.

I can understand how you could finallycome to the conclusion that it's not you in the Wild Wings photo (which I think you need to upload for our readers...and posterity), but I don't understand how you made an extra step and figured out the guy's name. Please fill me in, you stalker, you.

I will read you tomorrow!
Love,
~Thy Princess~

PS- Hey, Dummy, answer your phone!

IT WASN'T ME

So after you left I sat down with my Dad and watched some Anthony Zimmern Eats Stuff He Shouldn't (or whatever the name of the show is) and he told me that *gasp* it wasn't ME in that picture! It was some handsome guy named chris allen. I think what gave it away was his nose, it's not the same; his is really flawed on closer inspection.

Well, you're probably (actually definitely) at home now, and you're catching your flight tomorrow morning. How exciting! I hope I get to chat with you tomorrow evening. I'll be praying for you!

I love you

-The Mouse

P.S. I bet you thought I wasn't going to post tonite.

Bah humbug!

I'm usually (lately, at least) fairly good at keeping my stress levels down, but when a situation pops up, everything else crowds in to add to the stress and it's difficult to stay focused and not just crumble into a hopeless something or other. I can't even type right now, lol! I don't feel like posting, I'm dismayed that we BOTH missed posting last week, and I'm not going to go into all the bothersome details of my botheredness right now. Suffice it to say, I am very glad to see you soon and go get a meatball grinder.

Love,
~The Princess~

Revenge of the Challenge (bread edition)

Hey moll doll,

I'm very, VERY thankful that you're allowing me to have until friday to edit and compile my challenge video. To show my gratitude, I'm going to make the challenge a little bit easier than I had originally intended. Your challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to have a single table in your garage sale that is dedicated to a loaf of bread. The bread must be priced $10, and you must record yourself trying to pawn the loaf off on at least 3 people. The bread can either be white or wheat, it matters not. It must, however, be a loaf. I wish you luck on this endeavor.

Movin' out

Dearest Mouseboy,

Don't blame me for "distracting" you, sheesh! Your paranoia leads me to believe that you are extremely intent on tripping ME up, because I'll have you know that I have hardly EVER intentionally attempted (is it possible to unintentionally attempt something?) to keep you from posting! So stop all this finger pointing, and take responsibility for the empty brevity of your blog post last night.

It has come to my attention that our dear friend Steph has been fervently posting comments to many of our entries, and we have completely neglected to respond! I guess we just haven't noticed because we didn't expect anyone to actually get so engaged. We'll have to keep better track of what's going on here. Cameron as well has been reading, and ever so gently pointed out to me, "You do realize people had phones before they had airports, right?" So, no, people did not, in fact, have to go to the airport to buy their tickets. He continued, "And that's what travel agents were for." As I mentioned last night, technology has made us very smart, but also very dumb, and it is all too easy to become condescending when looking to the past and wondering, "How did people ever get by without X?"

I spent the morning packing up stuff in my room for the tag sale this Friday and Saturday. I need to make some signs and hang them up tomorrow morning. It's going to be fun! Of course, my house is kind of in the middle of nowhere, so I hope that people will still show up. I plan to plant one side on a street corner, taping it to the head of a buffalo hobby horse, which I will stick in the ground to hold the sign up. That should grab some attention. Thanks go to you and JJ for sending me the hobbled bison at camp one year in a most excellent care package. I'm pretty sure the duck tape I'll be using is also the very same that was sent in that package, with a note to use it to keep the campers in line.

I need to run off to a visit in Vernon! I will stop by afterward to drop off my digital camera. Remember: tomorrow is your last day to complete the challenge. If you fail to do so, after I have been ever-so-lenient about the date of completion, I retain the right to issue a new and perhaps more terrible challenge. Also, you need to post my challenge tomorrow, so I can get to it! Enough of this lolly-gagging, mister! Adventure and personal growth awaits!

Wuv you!

~The Princess~

WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT

That was kind of underhanded Molly. Distracting me and stuff. So this is all you're going to get. Well, maybe a little more than just that, I've got about two minutes. Ok, things to write about. OH! So I've been digging work lately because I get to ride the fourwheeler around! I get to crank it into 2nd, sometimes even 3rd gear and just floor it. I'm really, REALLY hoping that the boscos don't rewatch the past couple days security cams. Ok, that's all, we'll talk about this more tomorrow. Love you.

-The Mouse

Mars, movies, mythology, and modern marvels

Life on Mars? The TV show Kevin told us about? Okay. We also have to watch Flatliners. I'm pumped.

As for your vlog challenge, of course you can record on your breaks or whatever. You're gonna have to plan ahead if you're going to complete your challenge by Wednesday. By that I mean that you'll have to either borrow your dad's camera, or remember to ask me for mine. If it's not posted by Wednesday, I reserve the right to give a different and worse challenge. Don't be lame!

Your mythology course starts Monday!!! How exciting! I hope you learn lots of cool stuff and tell me all about it.

Using the modern marvel that is the internet, I just searched all around for Up! because my mom wants to watch it tonight. There aren't any red boxes within 50 miles of here that carry it, nor are there any block buster boxes. Wal-mart is carrying it for $16.99, but who wants to buy a movie for that much? I'm going to see if perhaps my mom would want to watch it on the bigger computer screen. In the meantime, I'm going to see if there are any movie rental places left anywhere nearby that might carry it. The internet is amazing, and we so easily take it for granted because we've had it since we were young. I can't imagine a life without the interwebz. I realized the other day--when people wanted plane tickets, they must've actually had to go to the airport to buy them. How crazy is that? Can you imagine driving over to Bradley and having to talk to someone to figure out when what flight is going where, how much it is...imagine trying to compare prices! We are so blessed--and so spoiled--to have such amazing technology at our fingertips.

I'm going to do some more reading for the intern study program, and avoid making phone calls. It's thundering, so I have a trembling Pei-Pei at my feet. I wonder how work will go for you today...

~The Princess~

Sailors fighting in the Dancehall

Hello my Molly,

So today was a fun day, I'd say. Well, despite our joke of a tennis match :D Let's see...what do I have planned for tomorrow. Work from 9:30 to 6, then home again. The days are starting to melt together again; if today wasn't paycheck day, I'm not entirely sure that I'd be able to keep track. BUT that's all about to change this coming monday! I get to start my mythology course (woot woot) and boy howdy am I pumped. I cannot wait to finally get back into matriculation! So close...

And before I forget, we should watch "Life on Mars". Yeah, that tv show that's based on a David Bowie tune. Ok, well it's not based on the song, even loosely, but it's about a guy that MAYBE travels back in time and solves crimes. Either that or he's schizophrenic. Who knows! We'll have to watch and find out.

I'm still not quite sure what your challenge is going to be, or if i'll even be able to complete the one you had given me. Have hope! I'll see if I can find a way to sneak in the camera, or maybe even record some stuff during my breaks. Yeah, that might work.

Alright, goodnight my Molly, I'll see you tomorrow.

-David 

God is great, God is good

Hello my David!

Have I told you lately that I love you? Have we made a reader gag recently enough? Has anyone even read our blog in the past months? I'm hoping the answer to all these questions is yes, but just in case: I love you more than the sunshine, more than music, more than peanut butter ice cream. There, now all we have left to wonder about is whether anyone will ever read that. But even if no one else does, at least I know I've told you.

What a beautiful day! I've spent a few hours of it reading for the intern study program, and a few minute of it calling a couple people to set up visits. I left a message with one person, and actually received a call back an hour or so later. That's always extremely exciting, and unfortunately rare. I also called my uncle to set up a visit and decided to make it a bike ride. We're going at 10 am on Monday--come with us! You and I can have breakfast together and listen to a Keller message, and then head out to Simsbury for a little bike ride, then come back here for a tasty lunch (there's still a lot of food left from the party to be grilled up)!

You wanna talk about challenges? Let's talk about how you were supposed to make a vlog by last Friday. Yeah, yeah, I know I gave you a grace period because of your hectic week, but unless you explicitly back down from the challenge--and I want the whiny defeat on the blog in writing--you've got until next Wednesday to complete it and post the results. Also, I need my video camera back! I want to get around to making a support video. In fact, I was going to do it today, and then I remembered that you have my camera. Also, I need to pay you back for those tent stakes I never had to use.

I will read you tomorrow, and [maybe] see you tonight!
Love,
~The Princess~

Yes yes yes yes yes!

Thanks Molly. Like, really. I've pondered what would be a suitable task as turnaround for the last challenge that you made suffer through. And you'll be pleased to know that *drum roll please*

I've got nothing. Goodnight. I'll talk to you tomorrow.

-The Mouse

No no no no no!

Oh no. Oh no no no no no! I am going to hope that you miss posting today, and that you will perhaps consider making our missed days cancel out. Yesterday was a HOLIDAY! Oy, okay, so that's a lame excuse, but I was just reeeeally committed to avoiding your vengeance for the bridge ordeal. This stinks...

Love,
~The Princess~

Did you know Vol. 1

SO

You're sitting next to me writing your paper (good luck! I know you'll do just fine. Well, because you've already read the book twice now) and I'm sitting to your right, trying to think of what to write for my blog post. We spent a good chunk of the day together so you already know the gist of what I've been up to.

Well, i've got a couple minutes before I need to post so I think I'll do some sleuthing and clear up something we've been wondering about. The term handicap; it actually comes from an old English game called "hand-in-cap". The rules are kind of murky, but it more or less had to do with (if I'm reading this definition right) making a situation more equitable for both parties. So in a way, that kind of translates into the modern definition of handicap....kind of...though I guess disabled works better.

OH! Also, did you know that when someone says that they have to use "kid gloves", it doesn't mean to treat someone in the same manner as they would a child; back in the old days, and I mean old old days, they used to make gloves from kid skin (you know, baby goats) and these gloves were much softer than those rough leather ones you'd normally use if you were plowing the field or whatever else the people in the old old days did for fun. So yeah, the more you know.

Alright, you're on the couch all laying-downy with a tummy ache, so I'm gonna see if there's anything I can do. Love you

-The mouse

Courage and Grass Clippings

Hello my David!

I don't know why you wrote that you "barely" completed the challenge. You crossed the bridge and back WITH your bike (bonus points!). I have the bravest boyfriend in the world. Were you terrified? Well, yes. I knew you feared heights; that's why I thought this would be a good challenge. But courage is not doing something in the absence of fear; courage is doing something in spite of great fear. You impressed me so much yesterday, and you should take some pride in what you accomplished. If you can cross a broken-down bridge 40 feet above a river, you can do anything. You can climb Monadnock, or take down a polar bear, or fight a dragon. You are my knight in shining armor.

My day was kinda cool, I guess. Productive at least. I woke up early to babysit, and afterwards went to my aunt and uncle's house for a visit, but they weren't there. I went to the library to bide my time reading until I visited another supporter who was more supportive than I had even hoped, and I felt so encouraged. I came home, did some more work stuff, then mowed OUR lawn, with a PUSH mower, and it's BIGGER than yours. So...yeah, I'm kinda awesome. Now I'm headed off to a visit with our dear friend Cameron. I've gotta run! Maybe I will kidnap you afterward. :-D

Love you! I will read you tomorrow.
~The Princess~