the hundredth post

It's my hundredth post! Since it's such a special occasion, I decided to do a list of 100 things. They're random, first-thing-to-come-to-my-head type things. I'm suprised at how quickly I composed it:

1. I like sugar cookies with colored sugar on top, the kind they sell at the mall.
   
2. I remember the dress I wore when I went forward in church - plaid. And the dress I wore when I got baptized - jean jumper.
   
3. One of my roommates has the same birthday.
   
4. (March 9th)
5. I'm anal about smells:
   
6. I have to smell the milk every single time I take off the lid
7. I also smell the washcloths in the kitchen. If they're remotely sour, they are hurried to the laundry room
8. I know which bus drivers will be driving each bus on a certain day and time.
   
9. Having people in the same house/room is a comfort thing, even if we go an entire day listening to iTunes separately and don't talk.
   
10. I wonder if I'm allergic to tomatoes because I get really itchy after eating them.
11. I don't really care because I don't like them anyway.
12. I like the clean smell of the Clorox antibacterial wipes and use them a lot.
    
13. I'm obnoxious about holidays...
    
14. So is one of my roommates
15. My favorite thing to order at Starbucks in the summer is a vanilla bean frapp. In winter, it's hot chocolate.
    
16. Coffee is okay, but I don't like it unless it is incredibly sugared and flavored up.
17. Country music is best when listened to on a car trip.
18. The fastest I've ever knitted anything was in five days. I needed a Christmas present very quickly.
    
19. I want to learn how to crochet, I've heard it goes really fast.
    
20. I want to go to every state in the United States or at least drive through them (Iowa? Oklahoma? Wyoming? Yeah, no).
21. I can't keep polish on my nails for very long because I mess with it.
22. I really like songs that have piano in there somewhere.
    
23. I don't know why.
24. I ask a lot of questions.
25. Most of the things I write, I rip out and throw away.
26. My favorite professor is Dr. Orr. He has certain ways of standing, holding his hands and smiling, and says "On your way rejoicing" at the end of every class.
    
27. I have driven once since August 20th.
    
28. Since I've lived in Spokane, I have been to a restaurant well after midnight.
29. In the past, I have been to Wal-Mart REALLY early in the morning (5am)
30. I've been on a bus that broke down and really enjoyed being late for my destination (last Tuesday).
    
31. I am wearing my Moody hoodie with the hood pulled up, plaid pajama bottoms, and am in my green circle chair in my living room because it's the coziest, warmest spot.
    
32. I like to think that I would have been amazing if I'd continued piano lessons.
33. I love the makeshift furniture in all the apartments I've seen here. The Goodwill castoffs and couches picked up along the side of the road are prominent in these poor Moody student's homes.
    
34. I think I may die from cold weather but am excited to find out.
    
35. Sometime, I want to hike somewhere. A lot of people around here have gone hiking and even camping up to Minehaha and I'd love to give it a try.
    
36. It's too late to try that now; I'd be frozen to the side of a rock or something.
37. I've waited my whole life to ice skate outside and I get to try this year!
38. There are 47 days until I go home for Christmas. I don't keep a running tally, I just counted.
39. I want to go running really badly.
40. I would definitely do sky-diving, but I'd be scared to death (no kidding).
41. My parents are skilled in the nick-name department: Lindsay-lou, Lizzie, Linz-rat, Lou-lou... if you ever call me those I do not promise to respond.
    
42. Only friends from SC call me "Linds", everyone here calls me Lindsay and it's odd.
43. I'm pretty sure what my major is and I think I know what I want to do with it.
    
44. I want to visit Seattle, Portland, Vancouver, Coer d'Alene, the Cascades and Yellowstone while I'm out here. We have definitely google mapped how far it is to each place and know where we'd stay.
    
45. I love when we do dinners with the boys upstairs because even though all of our furniture is so dysfunctional, it always looks good. We put our card table up to their gorgeous Goodwill rescue piece (they aren't the same height, so they put books under the legs of our table), cover it with a tablecloth that looks kinda nice, and since we don't have enough sets of matching dishes, alternate between our white and their blue plates.
46. I don't really like any of my CDs and really don't listen to them at all - ZOEgirl, Rebecca St. James, Jaci Velasquez, Tim McGraw burned CDs, Steven Curtis Chapman... I just do iTunes now.
    
47. Our calender has tons of random "days to celebrate" on it - we decided to have some fun... we celebrate things like "eat a green veggie" day, "let's fast" day and "keep the lights off" day.
    
48. I don't know why we agreed to keep the heat off until Thanksgiving. It's SO cold in our house.
    
49. We do look kinda cute all bundled up in blankets though.
    
50. I like plain Cheerios.
    
51. I think I adapt quickly. I refer to my apartment as home just as I do to home in Beaufort. I miss one home now and I know I'll miss my other one at Christmas.
    
52. I enjoy Skype conversations immensely.
53. I can't wink.
    
54. I like indie films. I watched one for an "Art night" at school yesterday.
55. Actually, I like any kind of movie (except twisted in the head types).
56. Pumpkin donuts at the Harvest House on Green Bluff are the best I've ever had.
    
57. Fall is officially my favorite season.
    
58. My favorite holiday is Christmas. You thought I was obsessed with all these fallish things... you have no idea.
    
59. If winter could start in the beginning of November and end right after Christmas, it would be my favorite season.
60. I really like Google Reader.
61. I have squinty little eyes.
62. I prefer living in a neighborhood (or apartment complex) to living away from people because they're nice to have around.
63. My sister and I have the same smile... I think it's her in some pictures of me.
    
64. I'm a Facebook addict.
65. For now, I have cheapo (meaning other people's castoff, free) dishes but when I have my own house, I want to have all white dishes and really simple glasses. I don't like colors or patterns on them.
66. But I do like color - I LOVE my blue teapot.
67. I drink water most of the time. I'm not all that into soda but I do have it sometimes.
68. I attempt to incorporate "y'all" into most of my dialogue.
69. Napping during the day is no problem for me.
    
70. Tea, not coffee.
71. Carrots make me feel sick and I can't even stand the smell.
    
72. And I don't believe they help with eyesight because Becca's a rabbit and she still has to wear glasses.
73. Shrimp is my favorite seafood.
    
74. I like symmetry.
75. Office supplies are a weak point for me. I love them so much.
    
76. I sleep with a stuffed monkey from Charity and Erin. His head isn't straight and it bothers me.
    
77. In Beaufort, I sleep with Lamby, a lamb someone made for me when I was born.
78. I do not feel a sense of accomplishment reading papers aloud to the class. I am actually quite embarrassed and wish I'd written something terrible.
79. I'm pleased with my midterm grade for my fitness class.
    
80. I had never seen a chipmunk before moving here and as soon as I did, I sang the "Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers" theme.
81. I've never been able to work a curling iron.
82. I often think about dying my hair but know I'd never have the courage.
    
83. My roommates think it's horrible that I've never been to a homecoming or prom and want to make one for me.
    
84. I love that most of my friends are louder and crazier and break out into song.
    
85. I'm so glad that we have a big grassy courtyard right outside our front door. It's so fun to bundle up, go outside and look out the stars. Reminds me of when we lived on Cat Island.
    
86. I was the second-worst babysitee anyone could have. I've babysat the worst (Ethan).
    
87. I want to climb a mountain, go hiking, etc, but no one believes me when I say that.
    
88. I'm scared to death of needles. And anything with a needle - like a wasp or a bee.
89. The sight of blood doesn't really get to me but those surgeries they show on the Discovery Channel freak me out.
    
90. I like football even though I don't understand the terms very well.
    
91. I would much rather write a paper than take a test, even if it's multiple choice.
92. I LOVE proofing papers.
    
93. I think it would be fun to be in a movie.
    
94. I can't believe I've thought of 93 things to say so far.
    
95. It's really not that surprising... I don't shut up very often.
    
96. One of the pillows in our living room is a squishy one that's shaped like a little person. It's scary.
    
97. I loooove traditions.
    
98. I'm dreaming of a white Thanksgiving...
99. I like wearing headbands. I'm wearing one now!
100. I did it! I listed 100 things!
     

The End All

We hear a lot about "heavenly perspective" in church. Setting our minds on God, Him first, and all that jazz. But we don't do it. We aren't really working on a heavenly perspective or a godly perspective. We want our perspectives to become reflected in God's relationships to us, not His will to show up in our lives.

Admit it.

If we truly read God's word, we know that what we've been telling ourselves simply isn't true. Our wills matter, but they aren't the end-all. We need a bigger picture than we can see with our humanly finite minds. We've got to stop thinking of destinations and look at the Map. We don't need to beg God to consider our ideas. We don't need to try to make the things we want happen.

Sometimes, we need to stop praying about it, get off our high horse, and start to walk in the direction that, if we really stopped and thought about it, God was leading us in anyway. We need to follow Him. We need HIM to be our focus. It can't be us anymore. We are changed, transformed by the power of God.

Therefore we submit all things: hopes, dreams, ideals, people, money, whatever is NOT being submitted, to Him. We give Him control. We give Him everything. The road will end and you'll have to turn around. It will have potholes. It will have detours and exits and you won't be sure. Don't you understand though?

You are not the end-all. Your plans aren't really your dream destination. You want something bigger. Submit, give yourself. It's not as scary as you think and it's such a relief. If it's in God's hands, you can't worry because you don't control the future. You don't know where the path twists. Relinquishing "you" is a hard choice. But it's the best one you can make.

Do whatever you need to to take your focus off you or whatever you're focusing on that isn't God. Now.

the pumpkin patch

Fall is such a great season for a lot of reasons. My recent posts have probably highlighted that enough :) Today we got to do one of the BEST things about Fall - visit a pumpkin patch! Five of the eight of us went, accompanied by Nick's mom. We found out that we should have gone earlier in the season because the pumpkins left were more green than orange. It took awhile but we each chose perfect ones... Maddie went for the tiny one, Molly, Nick and I went for the only ones we could that weren't rotted or green, and Skyler went for the biggest one he could find (45 lb). We enjoyed pumpkin donuts before coming down from the mountain. I LOVE going up there!























What else is going on?
School - good grades overall. Two exams this coming week - Bible Intro and Psychology.
Social - going to dinner tonight, going to a Bible study tomorrow.
Colder air is getting increasingly more bearable. Wonderful, since the low is 29 tonight. I look forward to snow, but I'm also a bit scared.
We've decided to keep the heat off until Thanksgiving, or until it starts snowing. We're also doing a "no lights" day today... our utilities bill last month was higher than we desired.

video

Here's a video I made of things I've done in Spokane so far. Enjoy!

fall colors

[fall leaves and mountains from various walks around town]

A street full of fall colors

Contrast between the sky and the leaves






Yellow leaf

Piles of crunchy leaves - quite fun.







Green, yellow and red leaves

The mountains across the street... and me!











An attempt to include the mountains (see top right corner)

Red leaves





The front yard... loved this with the sun coming through the leaves

More front yard - the "Christmas trees" and the changing leaves




[To fulfill some promises:]

This picture is for Granddaddy, because I told him that I'd show him what our front door looks like. We're on the bottom and the boys are upstairs.


Last picture here is for Grandmamma, to show her what my hair looks like. No, one side isn't longer, it just wouldn't curl under.


(It was good talking to both of you today!)

The Phantom

We'd completely given up on seeing the Phantom of the Opera on its run in Spokane after finding it was sold out. It was very sad but we tried to be happy about it while listening to people at school gush about how amazing it was.

Madeline bounded in from church today - "If we go two hours early we can get tickets!" she said. I assumed she was talking about church and wondered what kind of church sold seats (and two hours in advance? that's early!). "To the Phantom of the Opera!" she cried, "Do you want to go?"

Of course I did. Maddie and Molly and I got dressed up and went. We met five other people from school and stood in line for the 40 tickets available two hours before the show. Then we went to eat. The boys split from us and went to eat on their own. Olive Garden had an hour wait so we went to Red Robin for burgers. Six girls dressed up at a burger place. Nice.

And the show? It was amazing. Worth every penny. I'm so glad I went. (Except now I have the songs stuck in my head.) The lighting, the acting, the singing, the orchestra, the sets... it was all perfect. And we had great seats. Floor level, back row.



{pictures} Getting ready. Maddie, Me, Ali and Adrie. Erica, Molly and Maddie. The roomies ready to go. Erica and I with our burgers. The six of us (Ali and I got cut out) at dinner. Molly and I with our amazing tickets. My ticket. The stage.

the things we do

First of all - look at that sunrise! Skyler and Nick and I encountered this on our walk to the bus on Tuesday. A rather chilly, unpleasant day and then this made it seem all better. Isn't God beautiful?





The roommates at it again. We were sitting there, opened the fridge for a drink and decided that we didn't need glasses since we all buy milk separately (and since our dishes were in the dishwasher). So we decided to take a picture.
To all those of you who were afraid that I'd do terrible things like this while off on my own: well, I am. I know, it's bad ;)



And the picture to show those same people that we DO make our best effort. Molly's trying to pry the carton away from Maddie while Amanda looks on in horror.




Just a sample of the things WE do for fun. It's a crazy life, y'all.

what i did this weekend

Nana came to visit me! Flew in Friday, I spent Friday night, all day Saturday, and Saturday night with her. We shopped for boots, found some winter things for me, saw Fireproof on Saturday, and she came to church with a friend and I on Sunday. It was nice having her... and a little odd that I was showing my grandmother "my home".
As a side note, it was 25 degrees when we went to church on Sunday. Poor Georgia woman didn't see it coming...


You may notice that I don't usually dress like this. You may also notice that the people in the picture with me don't look so normal. I haven't fallen in with a bad crowd, don't worry. I went to an 80s party!
The party wasn't the most amazing, but the outfits were.
This is Becky, Johanna, Holly and I... they are perfectly normal-looking most days.


...And to show off the outfits, we walked down to Safeway. I think someone had to get a bag of chips. These are most of the girls. About 50 people showed up to the party total. It was loud and bright colors were everywhere. I'm still reeling from the over-stimulation.




Becky and I stopped on someone's steps to take this picture. Ugh - look what we're wearing! The tennis shoes were an amazing find at Wal*Mart, the sweaters and earrings came from Value Village, and the hair... it's not really natural. A lot of hairspray went into Becky's to make it stay that big, and my bangs were quite stiff from all the stuff Maggie used to make them curl like that (it had kind of fallen by the time this was taken).

Indelible

Isn't that a fun word?

The dictionary.com definition of this word is: "making marks that cannot be erased, removed, forgotten, or the like: indelible ink." Like permanent? Kinda. If something is permanent, it means it's long-lasting. It's meant to last a really long time. Indelible, in addition to sounding pretty neat, is something that cannot be removed or erased. It's there.

Becca and I used to write notes to one another on the bathroom mirror with a dry-erase marker. We'd wish each other a happy morning or put an important task up there. Once we had tired of the messages covering our mirror, we just wiped them off. They seemed gone, until the steam from the next morning's shower made their outlines evident. The ink of the marker had been wiped away, but what it had said was still there.

A dry-erase marker isn't the best example for the word indelible. It can be wiped away, and I'm pretty sure the outlines stop showing up after awhile. But my point is that the meaning of the word indelible goes further than just the surface. It lasts a long time.

God's love is indelible, His forgiveness is indelible, His mercy is indelible, His righteousness, patience, goodness, faithfulness... God is indelible.

What I'm asking is this: If I were to die this afternoon, would the mark that I leave on the world have any significance whatsoever? Do I love other people in such a way as that they see HIS indelible love? Am I forgiving like Christ forgave? Am I showing mercy? Am I being selfless?

Am I investing in things that are long-lasting? Am I loving, serving, showing mercy, forgiving...? If not, I'm not really doing what I'm supposed to be doing because I'm not involved in the truly important things in life. I myself do not have the ability to be indelible on my own. I'm not that great. God is great and He lives in me. Will that be shown in the way I live? It should, but it's my choice.

Because He is, so I must be.

For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.
Romans 14:7-8

pearls with t-shirts

I told Mom before I left that I would continue to wear pearls with t-shirts, say "y'all" and try to throw in as much Southern-ness as I could. She held that I would return with Birkenstocks and a tie-dyed shirt. Heck no. For one, I can't afford the shoes. And the shirt? Wouldn't be caught dead. People here look pretty normal for the most part, but very few wear Rainbows and most look more grungy than preppy like back home.

Well, guess what? People around here do not say "y'all". They make fun of those who do. Especially when the offender says "y'all's" - apparently it isn't possessive (yes, I did know that it's incorrect but it's a horrible habit to say it anyway). Don't worry Mom, I'm holdin' in there! I've even caught the roommates throwing out a little "hey y'all" when they think I'm not listening. It's catchy.

And the pearl thing... I guess it's odd?
I've been told, "Hey, you know you still have that necklace on?"
"Mhmm, yeah, I know"
"Oh. Okay. I just didn't know if you knew you had pearls on with a t-shirt"
"Yep. I know, thanks!"

They don't know about Frogmore stew, talk about "That time when I had some crab... I think I was 13", and are amazed when I mention the water. I think someone needs to send a picture of the house because they're picturing some beachfront property... marsh is a foreign concept. i've been looked at funny when saying "I'm fixing to _____". I guess I should be looked at funny for that but haven't thought about it before. They say "cart" and not "buggy" at the grocery store, "pop" and not "soda", and they don't have highways... they're freeways. FREEEEWAYS, Lindsay.

And they chuckle when I pronounce the name of our town.

It's Bew-fort, y'all.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...

It's 35 degrees right now. The high is a scorching 54 today. This is Christmas weather, y'all!

Oh wait. It's going to get colder? It's only October?

Eek!

I'm excited about the snow that's promised to come in just a few weeks but brrr... it's a long walk to my bus in the mornings :)

A little edit:
THURSDAY morning was freezing! Quite literally. Every morning we get up to very cold weather outside our front door. We took pictures of the inaugural frost on the ground and wrote in the ice on Dustin's car (No, it's not pink... it's Rosewood. He's adamant). Frost, people. In October. I'm not over it - I like the cold weather but I'm really getting scared. (and frozen).

I'm a first born... at least I don't disappoint.

"If you scored C, you are probably a first-born and I will probably not get along with you as well as others." - Dr. Orr

We took personality profiles last Wednesday in Intro to Ministry. You know, the kind where you rate yourself 1-4 on certain traits and from that determine if you are D, I, S or C.

I consider myself a fairly intelligent person, so when taking tests like this, I tend to gain insight into where they're going. If the answers don't seem as flattering as I'd like, I'm not above changing my little number to reflect a more appealing result. Sad, but true.

On this quiz, though, there was NO DOUBT what kind of personality I had. Instead of rating myself high on things like "talkative, fun-loving, optimistic, cheerful, enthusiastic", I was writing fours in the little boxes next to "cautious, serious, precise, factual, logical", stealing glances at the papers of the people on my right and left. They were patient, gentle, loyal, agreeable and I'm all accurate, perfectionist, conscientious.

Gee, way to boost the self-esteem.

One neat thing was that each of my roommates and I scored differently on the quiz. Molly's a D, which means dominant. Maddie's an I, an influencing personality. Amanda's an S for steadiness. I am the faithful, compliant. Which as you know, has "first-born anal-ness" written all over it (neatly, written first in pencil [just in case] and then carefully traced with a black sharpie).

The appealing "Characteristics" column contains terms like "tendencies", "desired environment", "motivating needs", "fears", "judges other by", "stress release", and "recovery needs" for each trait. It reminded me of a little animal book I remember reading that described monkeys. What they like to eat, what they're afraid of... not really sure I like being described like a monkey.

But whatever.

I heard a LOT of people saying all day: " I'm sorry, I can't do that. That's just my personality. Live with it."

lyrics

Downhere: Little Is Much

What is the measure of a life well lived
If all I can offer seems too small to give
This is a song for the weaker, the poorer
And so-called failures

Little is much when God's in it
And no one can fathom the plans He holds
Little is much when God's in it
He changes the world with the seeds we sow
Little is much, little is much

Who feels tired and under-qualified
Who feels deserted, and hung out to dry
This is a song for the broken, the beat-up
And so-called losers

Consider a Kingdom in the smallest seed
Consider that giants fall to stones and slings
Consider a child in a manger
Consider the story isn't over
What can be done with what you still have

a note to my family:

I'm missing these people (and animals) because I talked to two of them (the people) today, got two emails from one of them, sat next to someone with the same name (and red hair!) as my brother, and heard the dogs in the background. I think I talk to them more often now than when I lived at home! Becca even made an entire album and video on Facebook for me - loved it! I stole some of her pictures to put on here. Aren't they cute?
I miss y'all!