As March Nears an End

Here's a maine coon kitteh I've been stalking on Craigslist.

Hey everyone!

Today, Jamie and I registered for a 5k run in Chinatown! It's about 3 miles, which I run about once or twice per week, so hopefully I won't collapse in a quivering ball of shame. My main goal is to beat Jamie and all her friends. Because they are women.

In other news, I've started teaching a pronunciation class at the Pui Tak Center, and though I'm a nervous wreck going into every class, God usually blesses the time and we have a lot of laughs. I can only hope they learn something, too.

Also, I had my first baseball game last Sunday. It was really fun (photos should be forthcoming on Homebody and Woman), yet really windy and cold. I didn't start the game, but came in to play right field in the 4th inning (or thereabouts). I finished the day with a walk, a stolen base (yeah, you read that right), a run, and a groundout. I also dropped a pop up, but was able to throw the runner out at second base, so we'll say it was a fielder's choice, not an error. (We fought admirably, but lost 6 to 16ish... To an art school.)

Recently, I've been spending my days searching for internships, applying for jobs, and wistfully looking at pictures of cats on Craigslist. I've sent applications to a couple of places, and even had some friends from church look into a few opportunities for me, but right now God is having me wait. Maybe this means there's some incredible job just around the corner... Is there such thing as a Kitten Tester?

The big news, however, is that the refurbished XBOX 360 Daniel ordered for me arrived sometime yesterday. As I write this, Jamie should be collecting the package from the office downstairs (I'm at work right now) and preparing it for the coming era of Brotherly Video Game Jubilation!

***

UPDATE: I've meaning to mention this book: When Wanderers Cease to Roam by Vivian Swift. I bought it in January with a gift card from December, and have been loving it through March! It's like an illustrated diary and it's just wonderful. Jamie and I are really liking it, and have decided that:

Janelle would like the cats.
Jessica would like the art.
Dad would like the art, too.
Mom would like the art and cats.
And Daniel would like the fact that there's a lot of pictures to go with the words, but still wouldn't read it.
Matt would possibly dislike it because it lacks beards and meat.

I like the cats, art, and cats.
Jamie likes the cats, teacups, and travelling.

(Oh, and just kidding; Matt would like it too.)

Finally...

For some stupid reason, I could not figure out how to post on here again. However, as you hopefully have already deduced, I finally figured it out.

So, I asked Melissa to marry me and she actually said, "yes". Not that this is big news now, but here's a tiny story to maybe repeak your intrest:

A date night for Melissa and I usually includes a brisk stroll to Publix and picking out which meal we are going to cook for dinner. After dinner is chosen we move to the redbox to decide what movie, or movieS if we're feeling adventurous, we are going to watch whilst we eat. The night of March 12th was just a single movie night, but with double movie overtones. As we continued our promenade back to the house, I could barely keep in the excitement much less the box-shpaed bulge in my pocket. We reached a wooden bridge in the middle of her complex overlooking a small lake and I decided this was my chance. So, I pretended to drop something turned around, asked for Melissa to come closer, reached into my pocket and dropped to one knee. She, as usual, said something to the effect of, "You're not really doing this right now are you?" But I ignored the comment and continued with my simple statement. "Melissa the only way I know of keeping you in my life is to ask for you hand in marriage, so will you make me the happiest guy ever and marry me?" She finally decided this was enough to say yes. The rest of the story is just about me apologizing to my sisters for leaving them out.

I hope you all enjoyed this post. I have plans for hanging out with at least Jessica tonight, and maybe Jessica and Janelle on Sunday. Hopefully we can use this time to be giddy. Also I'm sending Brad a refurbished X-Box in hopes we can finally compete on the digital field of Madden. Mom, I called you first so be happy, and Dad apparantly you were next to her when I called, so take it easy. I hope this finds everyone well and sorry for not posting for so long, but I have been reading every single post and responding in my head. Maybe one day we can crack it open and see what I had responded...

- Daniel

wedding fever!

Jake and Julie's wedding was last weekend! All in all, it went very well.... except my headband ended up looking like a tiara (doh!!!) so I felt like the classic "remember when it was all about me last summer?" girl at the wedding... But, the scenery was breathtaking and the people were fun, and we got to dance and that was great and warmed us up!

We had alpha on Tuesday night and thankfully it went really well! The week before got a little hectic and matt and I were both nervous that no one would show up again the following week, however, everyone but 1 came back and we had a great discussion about why Jesus dying on the cross was important. It's so weird to be confronted on questions and issues that I haven't thought about in a while, but it's also good because it gets me thinking again and such.

oh and the cat picture you see is one that i found on the work computer, I thought it was pretty hilarious and deserved to be shared!

Tonight Jessica, April and I are going to Matt's Parents house (because they are out of town on their 31st anniversary) and we're going to watch Far and Away in tradition with St. Patty's day. Dad- are you making your corned beef?? We had some at alpha last night.... I ate some and it's such a different flavor.

Celebrity Apprentice started on sunday- you guys need to watch it because SINBAD is on it!!

And was everyone else extremely dissapointed with who got kicked off idol last week?

I think that's all... excpet that if you have learned nothing from this, then please remember the SNL episode with Zach G. is worth watching more than once and Conan O'B. is on tour but too expensive to afford tix.

Carl says he hates you and loves you at the same time.

I am made of snot

Hello family. Well, I've been waiting to post in hopes that I would have some great news to post about the job at Folio Weekly. Unfortunately I have not heard back from them. Oh well.

In the meantime work has been crazy. They fired one of the sales reps, (the publisher's nephew) and are closing the office in Yulee. In fact tomorrow we're moving to an office in north Jacksonville to be housed with the two other cleaning companies that the publisher also owns. I wont lie, I'm not really feeling very stable. But, like I said to mom, God has always taken care of me when it comes to jobs, so I know he will continue to do so.

This week I've caught the crud that's going around. I feel pretty awful, but I know I'll live. Maybe the reason I haven't gotten the Folio job yet is because God wants me feeling better before they call me back in. *sigh* Yeah, I don't think so either.

I'm excited to hear we're getting a new edition to the family. Melissa is a great girl and I'm happy to hear she's going to be our new sister. Surprisingly, the sting of singledom didn't really hit with the announcement. Maybe I'm finally growing in maturity after all.

Well, I love you all and hopefully something exciting will happen in my life and I'll be able to tell you all about it. In the meantime, here are the ads I redesigned for Folio.

The Hallway Is Done-

I did them in groups...

Classes, Summer, and Summer Classes

I promised I would post over the weekend, but our internet disappeared -- presumably on some mad, bandwidth-drinking binge. Anyway, our super-shoddy internet aside, I've been spending the last few days: 1) preparing for midterms and 2) preparing for the summer.

Thus far, my classes have been going very well. I get along well with my professors, and they seem genuinely interested in my well-being and future -- which is about the most I could ask for. Just a week or two ago, I was at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and one of my professors introduced me to this guy, Bill Testa, who informed me that the Fed was not likely to have any interns this summer.

This both bums me out and brings me to my next point: I've already applied for two internships (dream internships, at that), one at the Fed and one with the Cubs. I'm really pulling for the one with the Cubs (which is probably good, given Bill's forecast), because -- in all honesty -- my ultimate aim of working at the Fed is building my stats-cred so I can get a job in baseball. I've also examined some other internships with investment firms and risk analysis groups -- positions that I would probably find very interesting, but ultimately wouldn't want to do forever.

In the meantime, I signed up for a summer class at Roosevelt (did you guys know that I write for their Writing Center Blog?). If I pass the summer class (which -- my professor all but assured me -- I will), then I should be able to finish my Masters in one more semester, or two semesters of part-time classes (which would be great if I'm working by then).

In other news, Daniel and I have been trying, fruitlessly, for weeks now to play each other in Madden via XBOX 360, but technology has confounded us on every turn. Hopefully, though, I will be able to hammer out some of the problems this spring break and commence with the butt-whoopings. Also, today I went outside without my coat, and I found the weather chilly, but tolerable in my t-shirt. Oddly, though, I think I will miss winter (I really like the cold, except for how it makes my nose runny).

Volleyball, Pillows, and...Burying Bread?!

Yesterday, I had lunch with some people from our fellowship group and found out that a bunch of people get together and play volleyball every Thursday night in the church's gym. So I texted Brad at school, trying to see if he might get out of class early to go play, and he did! We scrambled over there, only to find out that they were starting later than we expected, which actually works out better so we can just go when Brad gets home from class. We both had some terrible mess ups, but then some great plays too and we're looking forward to going again next week.

I've decided that I'm going to try making some big pillows for our futon. It seems like a simple enough project to start with and I think it could bring some personality (and comfort) to our "living room." Although, I have a feeling it is going to take me awhile to locate the materials I will need, mostly because I'm not really sure what all I need. Planning is tough for me, I just want to go buy some cool fabric, sew some pieces together, and magically have it turn out amazing!

Tonight is date night. Our plan is to try an Ethiopian restaurant that was recommended to Brad and then come back to the apt and watch Amazing Grace. I'm really excited about the restaurant. We watch a lot of PBS because it's the only thing on in the daytime, and I keep thinking about a travel show we saw a few days ago about Morocco, where they were crossing a desert and made bread by burying the dough in the sand! How crazy!

Hey guys!

I feel like I haven't posted in a while, but I really was having trouble thinking of stuff to write about. Right now I'm watching American Idol and that's kind of fun- but this hasn't been my favorite season. Is anyone else keeping up with the show?? I felt like I really disagreed with the top 24 they picked.

Jake and Julies wedding is next week and I'm starting to get really excited. I'm one of the main people helping with the bachelorette party and that's fun because I get a chance to be bossy again... which is always fun.

Matt and I saw the move Precious today. One of the most intense movies I've ever seen, and I weeped the whole way through it, but I'm glad I saw it and they deserve every Oscar it was nominated for. Has anyone seen The Hurt Locker? I really liked that movie too.

I also saw Crazy Heart, but I didn't love it- kinda slow.

I'm feeling restless and sleepy at the same time lately. Kind of annoying.

My knee has been hurting extra lately, so if you want to be praying, that would be nice.

I think i'm done with my one line paragraphs. I can't really think of anything else to write about, but it has been great to hear from everyone. I miss you Mom and Dad- I haven't seen you since Christmas- (And of course you two Brad and Jamie)

LOVE YOU GUYS!!

-Janelle