Happy Halloween!

After having such a very busy last week and weekend, thi past weekend was just what the Dr. ordered. I had Friday off work and did basically nothing all day. Then I went to see The Medium, which is an opera with a darker side. It was really good. Saturday I went to Jen's Halloween party and saw a bunch of people I hadn't seen in a really long time. I had forgotten I chopped off all my hair until I had a bunch of compliments on it. Danielle at Regis in NW Plaza is awesome! Sunday was yet another relaxing day. Eric and I were going to go skeet shooting, but the powerlines were zapped so the houses would not throw the skeet correctly. Instead I took him to visit the rest of the family: mom, brother, grandma and then we ate dinner in his neck of the woods.

On another note, I'm seriously going to complain to the city about the fire hydrant less than a foot from my driveway. This weekend marks 3 people (including myself) that have hit the hydrant in 2 years. Even the people who lived here before me ran into it. I tried reflector sticks, the kids took them to play games. I put reflective tape on the hydrant itself and then the city painted over it. This thing has GOT TO GO! What a nusance! What genius came up with the idea of putting a hydrant at the end of a driveway less than 12 inches away from the concrete I'd like to know?

(1947) Gian Carlo Menotti
	The sun is falling and it lies in blood The moon is weaving bandages of gold Old Black Swan where oh where is my lover now Where oh where is my lover now Torn and tattered is my bridal gown and my lamp is lost With silver needles and with silver threads The stars stitch a route for the dying sun Old Black Swan where oh where is my lover now I had given him a kiss and a golden ring And a golden ring I had given him a kiss of fire and a golden ring Oh with silver needles and with silver threads The stars stitch a route for the dying sun Black Wing o Black Wing take me down with you Take me down with you take me down with you Take me down with you Old Black Swan take me down with you I had given him a kiss of fire Take me down with you

Painting and more painting

Alright so in the past few weeks I've managed to finally get the deck stained. It only took 6 hours (only), but it looks good. I also happened to paint the ceilings in the living room, kitchen, and hallway. Did I mention I also primed, and painted the entire basement this last weekend? I know it sounds exciting, but that's what I've been up to.

My birthday was great! I met some friends at Druken Fish and feasted on a wonderful dinner. Unfortunately it was in Westport so I didn't feel the need to leave the area for better pastures afterwards but I really appreciate my friends coming and hanging out with me. Sunday was comprised of finishing the basement (that I started Friday night), and then I went to Home Depot with Eric to help him pick paint for his house. Yeah, more painting is in store, but it's ok, it'll be worth it!

Tuesday I went to the Melting Pot with Liz and Kyle. I hadn't seen them since August, WOW! It's been a crazy weekend, followed by a crazy week. Well I know this is isn't poetic or deeply inspiring, but I don't have time to write anything really worthwhile, but I wanted an update of something. :)

Happy Halloween!

Prayer request

I recently was told some disheartening news from a couple of my friends. One has lost a grandpa to a heart attack, and one has just lost her mother to terminal cancer (she passed in her sleep). If you are the praying kind, please pray for my friends and their families in this difficult time. Thanks!

Think on the Truth, Train Your Thoughts, and Love God with All Your Mind

I went to small group tonight and was very thankful for the Lord providing me with enough strength and commitment to go. I felt guilty and tired working Sundays so I worked out my schedule so that I could be at church (ie have a day of rest) and still work the minimum hours required. I just hope that I can make up for my lack of a roommate with this cutting down of my hours and still make sales (being that Sunday was my best Sales day.)

Anyway, my small group is studying the book Loving God with All Your Mind. The concepts within are so simple, yet challenging ways by which one can look toward God and His Word for strength. It is not only my goal to at least attend Small Group where possible, but to really commit to studying the message of what we read and converse about it with other Christians.

I find it difficult to sustain my committment because I'm surrounded by a world that is less supportive of spiritual life. I could really use an accountability partner or someone who is understanding, yet pushes me to continue on my journey. I find my spiritual journey to be very zig-zag as opposed to continued steady growth. I will admit that I am growing, it's just really slow. There are concepts I have a hard time grasping, and in this study we are to think on what is true.

Philippians 4:8
Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworhty- thing about such things.

The book encourages us to think on things that are ture and real, rather than allowing our emotions and feelings to bring us down. Chapter 3 discussed relationships with others, not 'relationships' per se, but how you relate to others. For example do you ever find yourself thinking: " I don't think he/she means what she/he said; I wonder what I've done wrong; I wonder what he/she thinks about me; I wonder what he/she wants from me," etc. The Bible tells us to discuss our problems with someone privately (avoid gossip) (Matt 18:15).

Do you just find your self over-analyzing situations or interactions with people and then you are worried about how things are going? Yeah, that's me in a nut-shell, at least I'm inwardly cautious hoping that I don't say the wrong things or hurt someone accidently or stick my foot in my mouth. Rather than speculating, we need to focus on the truth, actual experiences and actions not worrying what others think. We should stop second-guessing our relationships. If there is a problem, we have a committment as Christians to disucss it with that person. We should believe the best and take things as truth, and not as perceived truth.

Sounds simple right? I guess I'm always second-guessing myself and how people really feel about me. Am I doing the right thing? Am I a good teacher? Did I say something to hurt someone else by accident? I just need to hope that God will give me insight toward anyone I may have inavertenly or avertly wronged so that I can confront them and resolve any wrong doing or that that person would tell me honestly if I've wronged them.

I'm really glad that my school is doing an 'appreciation' month wherein we all write something nice to someone (via pick-a-name from a box) every week. I think we all get caught up in our work that weget bogged down and don't feel appreciated for what we do, nor have the time to really express appreciation. I've received some very nice comments from people, and I really didn't know that I was 'uplifting and cheerful' and 'brought musical fun for the students.' I guess I'm always second-guessing myself because of the past, and this chapter basically states that it brings you down as a person and is not the way to be loving God.

My goal is to readjust my thinking and think on the truth, be more confident in myself and just 'relax'. I've heard from a few people who find me to be a very positive person, but I guess just deep down I didn't believe the truth. So, I'm going to try to think on the truth, and I hope God helps me make it happen :)

Other verses I need to remember:

Ephesians 2:10
"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Romans 12:18
If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

They were adopted :)

In case you were wondering, Zorro was adopted a couple weeks ago by a very excited family and I just found out LeLu was adopted this Saturday. I'm very happy that my animals found loving homes so quickly and that I made the right decision by turning to Doggy Doodles for help.

GO CARDS!

What an awesome game tonight! I was in choir for most of it, but I caught the 7-9 innings! How cool was the home run by Pujols? AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!

Looming Stress

If you remember reading earlier my roommate used a lame excuse (even though the problem has been rectified) to move out of her lease early so she could live with her boyfriend. I agreed on certain conditions so as not to cause a 'scene.' Needless to say, I'm short a roommate starting Nov. 1 and I'm very concerned about my financial standing after she is officially moved out. I have an ad on Craig's list, but am skeptical of some of the responses. I'm really stressing out, and don't know really what to do. I don't think it would be wise to try to sell a house right before Christmas and on top of that I don't know where I'd go simply because living here is technically so cheap. I'm not really paying that much more than my apartment from before (well before I'm sure rates went up) but as you know I made some bad financial choices by putting my nursing school pre-reqs on a credit card (how dumb was that!). Anyway, financially I'm making progress, but it was all based on having a roomie until her lease was up and now I find myself worried about floundering again. Please pray for me that I can manage my finances wisely with my weekend job, and that I don't fall apart health wise from working so much and attempting to keep sane by having a social life. I really hope I can find a roommate, I just need one for 6 months, and than I'm considering selling. I've already finished some projects I started a while back (ceilings are now freshly painted and I finally got the deck done). I have 2 more which is to paint the basement and the kitchen cabinets just to update them a bit (not that they are really bad now). I could really use your prayers and support. -A

I'm Back!

I survived another 4 days of 5th grade camp! It was fun, but really exhausting this time. I think some of it was because we had more students this year. I really enjoyed seeing the students in another light and getting to know the other teachers even more than I get to at school. I ate so many s'mores I can't even count, but they were delicious! This is why I must teach camp crafts, what is more fun than making food all day and teaching kids how to do it themselves on their own fires ;)

On another note, I'm preparing to finally paint the basement. I thought about it for a while and the paneling has to be painted. I'm going with a white-beige color. I think it will brighten things up a bit. I decided to also change my hours at Weekends, so at least I'll have one day off a week. I finally told them I'd like to do customer service, and the manager asked me if I had management experience (ie she's leaving and they are looking for someone new), but alas I already have a full-time job. I do have lots of customer service experience, and I manage my own classroom, but that's about it.

10 more days until I'm 28! YIKES!

Good things come to those who wait...

This last week was eye-opening for me. Someone I have come to cherish and care about was out-of-town for almost two weeks. It made me realize how much I valued this person's presence in my life and how much happier and appreciative I was when we are able to spend quality time together. I look foward to many more good times and future memories. God has definitely bestowed his blessings upon me as of late. Thank you God!

On another note this last weekend I went to surprise and old friend from TSU marching band. Becky from SAI suggested that we go surprise him at the homecoming game in which his marching band was playing. Being with some of my college friends brought back a lot of old memories. When we were sitting on the bleachers during the game, it felt like almost nothing had changed between us or at least how we related. I was reminded of many-a-great band cheer and certain traditions which found themselves in the cobwebs of my memory. "Super rutabaga, super rutabaga, super rutabaga, ru-ta-ba-ga!" will now be carried on at my friend's high school thanks to us.

"Wow, what a GREAT band!" :)

Events to look foward to:

Bloodhound Gang at the Pageant
My 28th Birthday (I guess)
HALLOWEEN!!!!

Sex in the City

Yesterday I was a little down in the dumps for various reasons. I was just tired, cranky and a close friend of mine is out of town. I decided to take a nap when I awoke to a message being left on my answering machine. Apparently it was "Tom" from the Farmington Correctional Facility wanting to make a collect call. Obviously a wrong number, I proceeded to laugh really hard and watch the "Sex in the City" DVD's I bought after work. I decided I needed a pick-me-up so I bought them while doing errands. I then drank almost a bottle of wine watching all of Season 6. Nothing like some good cinema therapy to at least make the day bearable.

On another note I've been receiving calls out-of-the-blue from people I haven't conversed with in a bit. The most surprising one was hearing from my friend Tim in TX who is visiting St. Louis shortly. It was good to hear that he was doing ok, and the hurricane hadn't affected his area. It makes me wonder, how much more of an effort does it take to keep up with people who don't live even remotely close to you as compared to those who do but are really busy? I have a friend here in St. L that most of us haven't heard from in a year. Just a random thought.

Gwyneth Walker

The St. Louis Women's Chorale is going to NY City to perform in Carnegie Hall with Gwyneth Walker. Today I was searching for the piece (this link is our group singing) our group commissioned for the 30th anniversary performance. (Note: From here on, the links are NOT of St. Louis Women's Chorale singing!) This is one of my favorites thus far.

I really enjoy the texts and the settings to which she composes. Here is a set of six poems all by May Swenson set to music by Gwyneth Walker. I included a link to the poems (this time) because I had them all typed and then something happened with blogger and it erased everything. Being later at night, I have not the patience to rewrite everything. Listen and enjoy (well, some performances could use a bit of adjustment for my ear, but you get the idea anyway).

1. Women Should Be Pedestals
2. Mornings Innocent
3. The Name is Changeless
4. Love is a Rain of Diamonds
5. In Autumn
6. I Will Be Earth

Sang a solo in choir today

Today I went to choir and was conversing with a fellow friend and singer when our director asked me if I could sing a solo for one of the songs we were going to rehearse that night. I hadn't looked at the song (or even heard it before), and he taught us the solo in 2 minutes (there was another solo part at the same time as mine). I accidently came in a beat early the first session, but figured it out the second time. People said I have a really nice warm tone. It was a little nerve wracking but I think that's just because it took me off gaurd at first. That, and suddenly I'm getting this stuffed up nose thing that started just a few hours ago. I think it's allergies but I'm taking "Airborne" just to be safe. Anyway all went well, and I was really excited about it afterwards. This doesn't mean I'll always be singing it, but it was fun just the same. You think that being a vocal music major and a teacher of music that I wouldn't be nervous, but I was for at least a couple minutes. It just felt good to 'stick myself out there' and do pretty decently. I almost even miss singing for all the weddings that I had done in the past. Maybe I'll start up taking voice lessons again if I can afford it and have time. I could use a few pointers since I'm sure my voice has matured/ changed a bit since I last had lessons in college.

I just wanted to share this little tidbit. I know it's nothing exciting in the long-term scheme of things, but I felt good about it and wanted to share the news. I think I might even audition for it if given the chance :)

Oct. 1 Baseball Game

I was lucky enough to have taken off work Saturday for another reason, and was able to go to the A-B Family Baseball game on October 1st. The weather was perfect and it was great game. I took a bunch of photos for memory sake (before they tear down the stadium) and am sharing a few here. I'm not sure why the old one has to go, but I'll miss it just the same, simply for the memories I experienced going there. I was hoping just to make at least one game this season, and I lucked out with 2 in one week. Gotta love it!