The B.H.A. Christmas Post

OK everyone, here is my "big, hairy, audacious" Christmas post. Let's start with last Saturday, the 20th.

After church, Trent and I went to my aunt and uncle's for Christmas. I always look forward to going to my aunt and uncle's. Good food and funny people are a great combination. We played "dirty bingo" for the first time this year. We divided it by guys and girls gifts. I brought a Victoria's Secret heavenly perfume/lotion combo and received a $20 Kohl's giftcard. Not too shabby. I would've stole the Gap giftcard, but my turn was over :( After the bingo game, we took our annual Christmas photos of every family and couples. Then the "kids" headed to the basement to play RockBand. It was me, Ben, Trent, and my two boy cousins. Then the older guys made their way downstairs to play beer-and fart-filled games of pool. Needless to say, I was the only girl in the basement in a fart-filled basement. It was great! :D

The next Christmas festivity took place at my Mom's on Christmas Eve. She lives in Plymouth and I LOVE going over there for Christmas. Once again, amazing food and funny people, gotta love it. I received some amazing gifts this year. Above all, the laptop that I'm currently typing on ;) It's a 15" Compaq and I love it. I asked for a smaller netbook, but this will just have to do I suppose haha ;) My sister got an xbox360 with RockBand so that's probably what I'll be doing the rest of my break. Ben got an amazing canon camera that he loves. My parents really went all out this year. After opening gifts, we played a hilarious game of mad gab. We always play games when we get together but we've never played mad gab before. It's very funny and quite entertaining.

On Christmas Day, I headed over to Trent's to spend the day with his family. Ben spent the night at Trent's because the rest of our family had other places to be Christmas Day. It was great though, having him at Trent's. We opened gifts in the morning and it was wonderful. I got TWO awesome, cute, functional pair of shoes from Trent's parents and plenty of clothes and patterned socks :D Trent pretty much stuck to my list which was fine because I didn't really NEED anything (like every Christmas). Trent also got a camera for Christmas so it was fun with Ben there too because the boys just played around with their cameras the whole day. Even while we were playing scrabble, they could not keep their hands off of them! I got a little frustrated actually lol. After playing scrabble, we ate a very delicious Christmas dinner that Trent's Mom made. Then had an even more scrumptous dessert. I've definetely had my fair share of amazing cuisine this past week. I mean, prime rib two days in a row! After dinner, the three of us headed back to my apartment to open up stockings. I put the usual in Trent's stocking- one gift and a butt load of candy. However, Trent got a little more creative with mine and Ben's stockings. I received two more pairs of socks, some floss, a snickers energy bar, a flash drive, some extra strength tylonol, and other random things. Ben pretty much got the same in his. Clever, Trent. The rest of the night was filled with the boys taking pictures of Rachel and Derek and his boys opening their gifts. Ben drove back to my Mom's to stay and I headed to Trent's to stay the night before we took off for Ohio. Or so we thought...

Technically, I'm supposed to be in Ohio right now with the rest of Trent's relatives. I went to bed expected to wake up at 5:30am and on the road by 7. However, at 6am, Trent walked into my room and said "Hey I don't think you set your alarm. But that's okay cuz we're not leaving yet. The roads are covered in ice." So I slept in til 9 when he came back into my room and woke me up for good. He told me that we might leave at noon so I got in the shower at 10:30. Right after I got completely ready, I mean.. hair dried and straightened, dressed, makeup on.. Trent's dad came upstairs and said, "Well, we're not going to Ohio." Aw man! All I said was, "Well, I'm ready to go!" lol. So we didn't go to Ohio. Bummer. They kept telling me about all the fun (wink) I was going to have with their family.... oh well. So Trent, his brother and mom, and I went to the crazy, people-filled mall instead. It was a nice relaxing day, nonetheless.

Now here I sit. Reflecting on this great holiday season. I think the best part was being with people I love. It's so great knowing that there are people around you who love you so much and care about you. I feel so at home whenever I go see my family and even when I'm with Trent's family. I can't even imagine what it would be like to spend Christmas alone. I think that's what I'm most thankful for this holiday season. I would've had just as good of a time even if I hadn't received any gifts at all.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Abby

What a Day!

I have never had a day at work like I had today. Wow.... what a day. It seriously felt like a dream, all of the crazy moments. Let's get on with this..

I was supposed to work at 10am and the "dough girl" went in at 7am. I woke up this morning from a dead sleep (I had Christmas at my aunt's last night and we didn't get home til 1) to the sound of my cell phone ringing at 7:18 and what do you know? It was Alysha, the dough girl. She was opening that morning and called me in a panic. "Abby! We have a major problem! The power went out and I can't get ahold of Drew (my manager). I've called his cell and his house phone and no one's picking up!" Half asleep and looking at my own dead clock I said, "Oh my, that IS a problem. I don't have power here either. Um... well, call P.J. (the other manager) and if all else fails, call Hacha (the managers' boss)." She said okay, I wished her good luck, and we hung up.

I wasn't too panicked because I normally set both my alarm on my phone and my regular clock alarm for occasions such as this. However, I could NOT get back to sleep. I was supposed to wake up at 9 but I just layed in bed and worried about Alysha at work. Finally, at 8:45, my sister knocked on my door and wanted to let me know that the power was out. I called Trent and asked him if his power was out and it wasn't. They live on one of the last streets in Donnybrook so they're actually on Nappanee power. Then I called Alysha and thankfully Drew answered. He said there was still no power at work and he'll see me soon. So...! I got up, brushed my teeth in the dark, and headed to work at 9:30.

I got to work and Alysha and Drew were playing phase 10 in the silence and cold. They had already gotten most of the preps done that they could do without power, but no dough-making of course. We use machines for that! Plus, dough doesn't rise very well in a cold building. So the three of us sat in the building, talked and laughed about this crazy situation, and called our loved ones about this madness. Drew was getting fed up that the power wasn't coming back on so he was going to let Alysha and I leave but be "on-call" in case the power came back. We were just about the leave when all of a sudden, at about 10am, the power came on! We were so happy and busted our butts to get some dough made and other things done. This didn't last long because at about 10:15, the building went dead again. Disappointed, we still tried to get more things done but an hour later, Drew let us leave.

I went to Trent's because they still had power and I could warm up there. I didn't stay long because at about 11:45, I got a phone call from Drew saying that the power came back on but he wanted me to stay home for about a half hour just in case it went off again. Well, it didn't and I headed back to work at about 12:15. The power flickered in and out for a few more hours but Drew and I finally got everything made and prepared for the day at around 2:30. He left and I handled the store until 4. Business was starting to pick up when I left at 4 and the night crew was rolling in by then. Whew! My crazy powerless day was over! So I thought...

Trent and I had just started a continuing game of scrabble when I received yet another phone call from Drew. Apparently after I left work, the night crew got KILLED with orders and Drew was unable to help because he was at a family Christmas party. Off to work I headed again to help out the night crew. However, I only stayed for about 40 minutes, enough time to make some pan dough. My work day was finally over at 6pm. I am pooped!

It's kinda funny that we were powerless at work today because last night at church, Jim talked about Jesus being the light of the world and talked about how it feels to be in the light and out of the darkness. We just feel so much better when we're out of the darkness, just like when we finally get power back. *sigh* I am SO thankful that the power is back and I hope it stays on this time. I have to work tomorrow morning at 7am and I'm PRAYING that I do not have to deal with what Alysha dealt with today. PLEASE God...

Time for bed.

Abs

Semester Reflections

Since the semester came to a close last week, I thought I would write about all of the crazy circumstances that happened.

I had a few wonderful shockers this semester as far as grades. Remember my Russian art history class? Well, the very first day of class my strict, yet hilarious professor told the class that it was very hard to receive an A in her class. She said you really have to earn an A. This made me extremely nervous until I got an A on my midterm. We had a few writing assignments and I mostly got B's on them. So coming into the final, I had no idea what my grade was. I studied so much but after I took the final, I felt very apprehensive. I felt like there was stuff on the final that I didn't even think I needed to study. I thought for sure that I got a C on it. I was wrong. Last Thursday I emailed my professor to see what my grade was and she said I got a 99/100 on the final and an A+ in the class. WHAT?!!! Are you freaking kidding me?!? How in the world did I get an A+ in RUSSIAN ART HISTORY?! lol I was very.... dumbfounded hah! Anyway, I learned a lot about Russian history from about 1870's to the 1940's. Very interesting stuff, actually. I know that Dostoevsky wrote Crime and Punishment and Tchaikovsky composed The Nutcracker. AND I actually know how to pronounce these names ;) I think the reason I got a good grade was because it's easier for me to remember weird things, like the names of these artists. Isn't it much easier to remember a name like Rimsky-Korsakov (who wrote "Flight of the Bumblebee," by the way) then John Smith?? Well, I think so.

Another shocker was in my social psychology class. This class' grade was based solely on 4 tests and the final. The whole class was out of 500 points, 100 points for each test. No room for error here, kids. The first test I got an 82... not thrilled about that grade, but hey it was a B. Then, the second test I got a freaking 74... really wasn't happy about that one! My grade was sitting at a very low B. After that, I needed a game plan. Since I finally discovered after 2 tests that they were based on only vocab words and experiments in the textbook, I studied those hard. Hundreds of notecards later, I finally got a 94 on the last 2 tests. It was about time I got A's on those darn tests! So, now comes the final. I finally raised my grade to a high B, close to an A-. I figured it out that I had to get an A+ on the final to finally get a 90%(A-) in the class. Psshhh! Yeah right, I knew I was NOT going to get a freakin A+ on that final. So I thought..... I checked my grade 2 days ago and guess what?! I got the highest grade on the final which meant I got 100/100 on the final. WHAT?!!! So I ended up with an A- in the class. WHEW! By the way, in case you cared, 'high need for cognition' means that you enjoy deep-thinking. I, on the other hand, have low need for cognition :)

My other 3 classes (philosophy, math, and my library class), I did consistently well throughout the semester. I had and kept an A+ in my math class from the very first grade. My professor told me that I had the highest grade in the class during the entire semester. The library class included easy assignments about how to use the resources at the library. I did very well on the final project getting a 299/300 and my professor asked if she could use it as an example for next semester's class. I was a little surprised that I got an A in philosophy, however. Some days I either really didn't understand the material or I just didn't care about what was being discussed. Somehow, I don't really know how though, I got an A.

I hope it doesn't feel like I'm bragging about my grades. It's just that I've never gotten all A's before and to get them in college...? Wow, I'm just proud of myself. I studied hard and prayed harder. Actually, you know what, I think it was the coffee. ;)

Thanks for listening to my ramblings

Abby

Survey: Part 4

Finally! This is the last section of this crazy-long survey. Ugh... :)

[136] Do you have a boyfriend or girlfriend? yep... 5 years and 2 months

[137] What annoys you most? anything rythmic (like a clicking clock or snoring) while I'm trying to sleep

[138] Fave 'scary' movie? I don't really like scary movies

[139] Fave 'action' movie? is Fight Club considered action?

[140] Fave 'romantic' movie? Love Actually

[141] Do you have an accent? doesn't everybody?

[142] Who is your role model? Jesus! lol

[143] Do you like surprises? I do

[144] What's the ideal age to die? anywhere over 85 I guess

[145] Do you like to dance? very much so

[146] Ever took ballet? nope, just gymnastics when I was like 5

[147] Bold or pastel colors? both are good

[148] Do you still wear Tommy Hilfiger? I never did

[149] What brand do you wear most? American Eagle

[150] What do you normally watch on TV? cops, I freaking love cops!

[151] Do you have any 'special' talents? I can stick my foot in my ribs... it's hard to explain but I'll show you sometime if you ask me to

[152] What's your favorite sport? didn't I already answer this question?

[153] Can you swim? yep

[154] Can you play a musical instrument? I learned a little Norah Jones ditty on Trent's keyboard. but that's as far as my musical talents go

[155] What star sign are you? pisces

[156] Do you prefer public schools or private? well since I went to a public school then I guess public

[157] Do you care what people think? yes, I think everybody does to some extent

[158] Have you ever shot a gun? just my brother's BB gun

[159] What's your biggest fear? dying or having someone close to me die

[160] How many hours of sleep do you normally get? anywhere from 6-9... depends on the day

[161] Regular ice or crushed ice? regular, I hate crushed ice, it gets in the way of the drink

[162] Blue ink or black ink? I think I prefer black for some reason

[163] Are your clothes mostly loose or tight fit? I have equal amounts of both (b/c I gained 12 pounds over the summer so now I have a lot more tight-fitting clothes) but I feel uncomfortable in stuff that's too tight

[164] Have any peircings? just in my left ear, the other side closed up

[165] Gold or silver? white gold

[166] What kind of shampoo/conditioner do you use? Pantene beautiful lengths, I'm trying to grow out my hair again. If the shampoo doesn't help, it will still make me think that my hair is growing faster ;)

[167] Do you blow dry your hair? everyday, depends on how much heat I use though. more heat for straighter hair and on the cool setting for wavy hair. in case you cared haha

[168] What do you sleep in? sweat pants and a baseball t-shirt

[169] What's the last book you've read? just books for school, probably my social psych book for my final yesterday

[170] Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera? Christina has a better voice, Britney is a little cookoo!

[171] Spiderman or Dare Devil? Spiderman

[172] Have you ever broken a bone? nope *knock on wood*

[173] Shower or Bath? shower, baths make me feel dirty for some reason.... I don't know, sitting in my own filth may have something to do with it

[174] Do you have any cavities? 4, but they're filled

[175] Have you ever wore braces? yep from 8th-10th grade

[176] What do you live in? an apartment

[177] Would you choose true love or to be rich? true love for sure

[178] Do you have Cable? amish cable haha

[179] Do you play any computer games? just solitaire

[180] How long did it take you to finish this? oh let's see... about a week! haha


Abs

Survey: Part 3

[91] Ever got a detention? the closest I've ever come was getting a 1/2 hour 'study table' from Ms. Cole in 8th grade

[92] Ever been suspended? no way!

[93] Better: Punk or Prep? prep but it would be fun to go punk for a day

[94] Ever blew a beverage out your nose? no way that would hurt so bad

[95] Do you like jaw breakers? not really, I'm too inpatient

[96] What color is your room? cream, boring

[97] What do you say a lot? "whatev" "good grief" "oh geez"

[98] What's your best personality trait? I'm pretty mellow and always optimistic

[99] What's your worst personality trait? selfishness

[100] Do you have any medical problems? allergic to amoxacillin, found that out the hard way one time

[101] Are you listening to anything? the fan of the space heater

[102] What's the last movie you've watched in Theatre? Role Models, very funny

[103] Who is your favorite friend? aw that's not fair!

[104] Who do you get along with the best? everyone! I hate conflict

[105] Who do you fight with a lot? Trent, but we don't really 'fight' or even argue all that much

[106] Who is your funniest friend? my brother

[107] Do you talk too much? not at all, people actually tell me that I need to talk MORE

[108] Ever fell asleep in class? never

[109] Sneakers or open-toed shoes? sneakers?? open-toad shoes?? who calls them that anymore?! I wear SHOES

[110] Can you do a cartwheel? sure can! those years of gymnastics did me well :)

[111] Ever been camping? a few times, my favorite part of camping is making breakfast over the fire

[112] Shorts or jeans? I really don't like wearing shorts, even in the summer. I hate being cold and I know that everywhere is air conditioned, so why risk it?

[113] Double dates or just the two of you? double dates are good every once in awhile but I like to be just the two of us most of the time

[114] Do you go to camp? went to church camp for like 10 years!

[115] When's the last time your parents spanked you? I don't think I've ever been spanked. I was the easiest child to raise, you know ;)

[116] Can you rhyme well? not really

[117] Have you ever belonged to a gang? oh yeah, cuz we have so many gangs in Bremen

[118] Know people who belong to a gang? nope

[119] Do you smoke ciggarettes? ew no

[120] Indoors or outdoors? outdoors only when it's warm

[121] Have you ever gotten beaten up? nope

[122] Do you know how to cook? not right now, but I think I'll be okay at it when I become a wife

[123] Do you know how to do laundry? yeah, I actually enjoy doing laundry :)

[124] When you get a pizza, how many slices do you eat? usually 2, but pizza does BAD things to my stomach (Todd knows)

[125] How tall are you? almost 5'4"

[126] Do you consider yourself too fat/skinny? nah

[127] Do you watch the superbowl? just for the commercials

[128] What's your least favorite color? I don't really like orange

[129] Have you ever faked being sick? nope

[130] Ever done something illegal? yeah! I speed on a daily basis

[131] What's the longest you've stayed up? 4 am at middle school (and college lol) sleepovers :)

[132] Are you afraid of dying? I am, but I'm learning not to be

[133] What's your biggest regret? nothing really

[134] Ever picked up a hitchiker? heck no! I never would either

[135] Is your name on any bathroom walls? I doubt it


~Abby~

Dr. Abby Miller

Today I had an epiphany. As I was working hard at making dough this morning at work, with the smell of yeast in the air, and listening to the morning guys on U93, I began to think about my future. Considering this semester flew by (like they always do), I realized that after next semester, I only have one measly year left of college. Woah. Many things will be changing even within this year. Plans are being made that will affect my entire life. My life is moving forward. And that made me very apprehensive.

But then I began to think about school. I love school so much. I love learning about all the random things in my classes, including Russian art history. A few people have recently asked me if I was going to try for my Master's. And you know what, I think I want to. Why shouldn't I? I really like school and I'm getting better grades than I ever have before. I began to think about my future job. I realized that my dream job would be to do research with a group of other psychologists. Making people take surveys and doing experiments sounds like so much fun to me. Then I realized that those kind of people usually have a PhD. Then I thought, why couldn't I get a PhD?? What's stopping me? What's the worse that could happen? I know there's the money issue, but if I go broke, I know there will be people who love me so much that they would take care of me. Even if I fail, at least I tried to attain some sort of dream.

This idea got me extremely excited this morning. What would happen if I had a PhD? Would I make a lot of money doing what I would love doing? How awesome would that be!? It seems so out of the norm from what I'm used to. I always thought I would live the cookie-cutter life by graduating college, getting married, getting a mediocre job that I didn't really like but paid the bills, having kids, living in Bremen for the rest of my life... which doesn't sound bad, but it's just too "average." But now I realize that I don't have to live like that. I can do things out of the ordinary. I can get a PhD, move away, and maybe not even have kids. It's my life and I can do whatever I want with it. I'm so excited!! :D

On another, kind of random note... why do I think that my life hasn't "started yet" just because I haven't graduated college yet, I'm not married yet, and don't have kids yet? It's weird to think that I'm not "living" just because of those things. Why do we think that "life" is all about going to work and having a spouse/kids?? Is that the best we can do? I don't know, it was just a thought I had.

Things will be dramatically changing for me in the next two years or so. I used to be scared. Now, I'm ready!

Survey: Part 2

More survey questions:

[46] Do people think you're crazy? only when I'm hyper

[47] How many people on your buddylist? I don't have a buddylist anymore

[51] How many songs do you know all the words to? A LOT!

[52] Do you listen to The Beatles? nope, sorry

[53] Do you listen to Eminem? only if he has a song on U93, but I don't have any of his CD's

[54] Do you know anyone who thinks they're Eminem? hah yeah

[55] Do you read books often? just for school

[56] Do you strive to fit in? not really, I just try to be nice and if people don't like that, well then there's nothing else I can do

[57] Fave gum? orbit white, in the pink big-e-pack

[58] Do you snore? nope, I sleep very quietly

[59] Are you afraid of thunderstorms? just the wind and lightening.... so yeah lol

[60] Do you care what you look like? not so much anymore, it's kinda nice

[61] Is your hair color fake? not anymore, it's all grown out and natural now

[62] Whacha wearing? dark jeans, green tank top, maroon long sleeve hoodie, and a cream cordory blazer

[63] When's the last time you talk to anyone? like 2 minutes ago, he's counting change now lol

[64] Do you 'fall in love' easily? no, I don't think I used to either

[65] What's your best physical feature? I love my toes! I could probably be a foot model lol

[66] What attracts you most to the oppisite sex? eyes, jaw, smile, adam's apple LOL

[67] Are you picky about who you date? I don't date anymore

[68] What's your favorite cologne? probably curve

[69] What's your favorite perfume? glow by j.lo

[70] Do you like roller coasters? hate em, I'm a big wuss if you couldn't tell already

[71] Have you ever flown in a plane? yep

[72] Do you wear make-up? uh yeah! I wear more now than I did in high school. it's just fun

[73] Have you ever went bungee jumping? no and I never will

[74] Ever been to Paris? nope

[75] Do you believe in Vampires? um no

[76] Even if you could become a Vampire? still a no

[77] Would you call yourself normal? I don't think anyone is normal, we are all unique

[78] Have you ever gone skinny dipping? only in a bathtub

[79] Do you eat seafood? oh yes

[81] Ever drove while drunk? never been drunk... so no

[83] Have you ever lit yourself on fire? LOL probably not!

[84] How many people do you trust with your life? the few people closest to me

[85] Are you considered intelligent? I'm book smart but not common sense smart

[86] Are you considered a nerd? hah now that I'm getting better grades I probably am

[87] Do you talk on the phone a lot? not really

[88] How often do you take a shower? everyday

[89] What kind of bodywash do you use? dove bars

[90] What's your favorite candy bar? gotta be snickers, it's a classic


Abs

Survey: Part 1

Since I am a little on a blog "dry spell," I've decided to take a survey that I took back in May 2007. If you have quite a bit of time to waste, I would suggest reading these survey answers, if you want of course. It's pretty long. There are 180 questions total so I think I'll do 4 posts of 45 questions. :) Here goes...

[1] What did you want to be when you were younger? a teacher or cosmotologist

[2] What's your favorite type of music? I like calm music like Norah Jones, A Fine Frenzy, Howie Day, James Blunt, Colbie Callait... with a little alternative rock

[3] What do you spend most your time doing? sleeping, duh

[4] Would you rather stay at home or go out? I would rather stay in nowadays. I'm always hustle-bustling around so it's good to just calm down and stay home

[5] What is your favorite 'fast food' restaurant? hmmm... Chick-fil-A, but DQ is gaining on me

[6] What is your favorite restaurant? Chao Cajun at U.P. Mall, Logan's is good too

[7] Are you a farmer? that'd be a no

[8] If you could marry anyone who would it be? anyone?! how bout Brad Pitt...? jk, Trent wins.

[9] How much do you think about the oppisite sex? I would say... about 12 hours a day lol

[10] What's your favorite toothpaste? colgate total whitening PASTE, gel is nasty

[11] What kind of grades do you make? mostly A's, with an upsetting B in there every once in awhile

[12] If you could go anywhere where would you go? I bet Greece is pretty

[13] How many people do you live with? it's just me and my sissy wissy :)

[14] What is your favorite sport? I like watching gymnastics on TV, or figure skating

[15] How many kids do you want? 2, maybe 3

[16] What would you name them? boy- Kyser.... girl- Lilly

[17] What color lipgloss/lipstick do you usually wear? cherry flavored softlips or chapstick

[18] Coke or Pepsi? DIET coke, but I rarely drink pop

[19] What's the last thing you bought from a Pharmacy? pills! duh... what kind of pills? you'll never know

[20] Have you ever been in a wreck? a bike wreck when I was 5, my bottom teeth went through my bottom lip.... scarred me (literally) for life.

[21] When do you usually go to bed? around 10:30, give or take a half hour

[22] Whats the worst thing you ever did? when I was 9, I wrote a mean note and stuck it in the neighbor's mailbox.... needless to say, we moved LOL

[23] Do you attend church? yep, I'm the 'sound technician'

[24] How many friends do you have? a few close ones, that's about it

[25] What's your greatest accomplishment? getting an A in any class

[26] What do you plan to be when you're older? I really don't know.... alive, I hope

[27] What's your favorite PJ's? fleece pants and a thermal shirt

[28] What's your favorite thing to do? eat LOL

[29] What color hair do you have? darkish brown

[30] Do you sing well? not really

[31] Have you ever been in love? currently :)

[32] Would you eat a cochroach for $500? maybe if it was dead or cooked, not alive

[33] Are you afraid of the dark? I used to be, but ever since I moved into my apartment, it's not an issue anymore. I feel safer :)

[34] Are you bored? nah

[35] Where's the last place you've been? I went to the library at school to study, stayed for about 10 minutes, then got an a computer lol

[36] Do you wear a lot of black? not really, but I actually am right now!

[37] Do you get along with your parents? most of the time

[38] Would you consider yourself 'popular'? not really, I'm just average

[39] Do you live in the country, burbs, or city? city, if you can call Bremen a city

[40] Most painful experience? when my parents got divorced

[41] Most happy experience? when I found out that Trent liked me. I had the biggest crush on him for years and was EXTATIC when someone told me he liked me too

[42] Have you ever been stalked? I hope not, but if I have been, they were good at hiding

[43] Have you ever egged a house? nope, I'm a wuss

[44] Do you go hunting (deer,duck,etc)? nope, just fishing

[45] Do you support PETA? sure why not


More answers to come!

Abs

Symmetrical Ben

I took Ben's picture and made his face symmetric as well.
(The top pictures are the orginal pictures)

(above) By far, the funniest

Abby

p.s.- I hope Trent posts his pictures on his blog. They are pretty funny as well.

More Attractive?? I Think Not!

So today in my social psychology class I learned that people with more symmetric faces are more attractive. Now, I already know that my face is NOT symmetric. So I wanted to see what my face would look like if it were symmetric. Thanks to the magical workings of Photoshop and a little help from Trent, we found our results. Take a look... these are bound to get some laughs!

(The top pictures are the original pictures)

(above) The bottom picture looks like Ben in a wig!

Symmetry more attractive?!?! I THINK NOT! I think I'm better off not being symmetric, don't ya think?

Pics of Ben and Trent will be coming soon ;)

Abby

Conversations

I'm kinda at a loss for what to write about lately. Writer's block I guess. However, lately I've noticed that Trent and I talk about some of the most weird, random, eccentric things. Take today, for instance. At school, Trent sneezed and I said, "Bless you." Then he sneezed again and I said, "Alright, I'm not asking for God's blessing for TWO sneezes! You only get one sneeze blessing a day." And on the way home from school, he sneezed again. I forgot about our deal of only one sneeze blessing a day and accidently said "Bless you." He reminded me of our deal so I replied with, "Fine! Then.....condemn you!" He thought that was pretty funny but I guess you had to be there. Sometimes I wish I could record our conversations for all to hear :)

Then, tonight we were eating a very delicious, very healthy dinner consisting of Lean Pockets, Sunchips, and a cup of Ramen noodles, when I suddenly blurted out, "I wonder how we know where our mouths are...?" Trent just turned, looked at me, and began to laugh. Then after we got done eating, I asked Trent if he wanted to take some Pepto Bismol before he went to IUSB to watch a speaker. He laughed and said something along the lines of, "Heck no! Do you know how funny it would be if I had farties the whole night?" And I replied with, "Yeah right, more like squirties after eating this dinner!"

This kind of language is not uncommon for us. Some previous conversations have consisted of, "How would I ever know if the color I call 'blue' is the same color that you're seeing?" or "How does regular digestion take 20 hours but you can get diarrhea within 15 minutes?! How in the world does it go through you so fast?!" And just the other day I was talking to him about my philosophy class. I said, "Trent, I was thinking so hard about 'eternity' and it boggled my mind so much that I almost passed out! The room kinda went black for a second."

I guess once you're with someone for so long, and they know everything about you, there's really nothing else to talk about. Therefore, you have to talk about the silly things in life. All of life's little wonders and questions. So that's what I've been thinking about lately. I hope it made you at least giggle a little.

Abby

Election Reflection

Let's just get to it. I did not vote. Shame on me, some would say. I just plainly do not care for politics. They don't make me happy or mad. I have a neutral attitude toward the whole thing. Therefore, this election was quite entertaining for me. It was like a reality show. People just went crazy! haha and I just had to laugh every time I saw these two groups going at it. I could definetely see my social psychology classes coming into play as I watched. It was just all so entertaining to me.

I remained very neutral with an "I really don't care" attitude. Up until yesterday. After talking to Trent on the way home from school, I began to wish that I had voted. I was starting to SLIGHTLY lean toward one candidate and I probably would've voted for this person had I actually registered to vote. I'm not going to tell you who I would've voted for. I would rather remain neutral to you, the reader. I don't want members of a certain group to hate me just because I would've voted for this particular candidate. You can try to guess all you want, but I'll never tell ;)

Last night it was so entertaining to watch as each state announced their projected winner. I was neither happy or mad that one of the candidates were either winning or losing. Even though I said I would've voted for one of them, my emotions still remained neutral as I heard the incoming results. In fact, this morning I was so excited just to hear the outcome of this craziness. I didn't care who won, I was just looking forward to seeing the drama that was going to unravel today! I turned on the TV, heard the outcome, and thought "Ok, now I know."

So.......! Today I was a little excited/nervous to hear peoples' reactions to the outcome. How else could I describe it other than entertaining?! So that's that. I'm not particularly happy/upset that Obama won and not particularly happy/upset that McCain lost. I'm just, as always, "eh, whatev" :) No matter who got elected, I would still rather put my trust in God to be my leader than the president of our country. That's just what makes sense to me and probably the biggest reason why I didn't vote.

Abby

Many *CrAzY* Faces of Abby Pt. 3

Here's the last of em, folks! :D

Thanksgiving 07

Chris and Tori's recepetion (Dec 07)

Me and Ben's 21st birthday (March 08)

I was not drunk... seriously, not even close. Ask anyone lol (March 08)

Before getting my wisdom teeth out (June 08)

There you have it! I...... am a dork.

Abby

The *CrAzY* Faces of Abby Pt. 2

Some more of my crazy faces!

Sitting around a campfire (May 07)

Late night Pizza Hut run! And feeling guilty about it (Aug 07)

Feeling fat from the Pizza Hut (Aug 07)

I dunno. (Aug 07)

Bored with homework (Sept 07)

Girls Night (Nov 07)

Rockin out at the Newsboys concert (Jan 08, maybe?)

We're dorks (Jan 08?)

kbye.

Abs

"Oh no, you poop?"

Trent was thoroughly annoying the crap outta his dog (not literally). Hutch likes to "talk" to us a lot. Take a look.




Abby

The Many *CrAzY* Faces of Abby Pt. 1

I stole Trent's idea. These pictures were taken from the Summer of 2005 to the Summer of 2007. Enjoy!

The first attempt at painting Trent's bedroom in Wyatt (summer 05)

After school fun (Jan 06)

I ate a few too many sunflower seeds (Jan 06)

"IUSB lady" face (Dec 06)

"fat Abby" (Dec 06)

New Year's Eve with my best (Dec 06)

I got a hole-in-one while mini golfing in FL (May 07)

Very disgusting jelly beans, maybe rotten egg flavored? (May 07)

Sad b/c it was our last day in FL (May 07)

On the ride home from FL (May o7)

More to come! :D

-Abs-

Are you really surprised? Didn't think so.

So Trent, Todd, and I went to Fred and Judy's for some church business. After we got things hatched out, Fred pulled out the wii. After some mad games of mariokart, it was time to get fit. We tried skiing, tight rope walking, but it all ended up in a mad hoola-hooping competition between Trent and Todd. Of course, I have videos. Enjoy!








Sorry about your neck, I never figured out how to rotate the videos. I can't even do it on my camera. Oh well. :(

Abs

Anniversary in the Windy City

Me and Trent's anniversary getaway to Chicago was great. We had a good time walking for miles, people watching, shopping without buying anything, eating huge messy bbq burgers, and chasing disease-ridden pigeons. Hooray for 5 years! I have pics.

Abby

Whew!

What a week! It pretty much FLEW by. I had two midterms on Wednesday in philosophy and russian art history. Then today, I had two more tests in math and social psychology. I really hope I got an A on my art exam and maybe an A+ on my math test. I dont know, we will see :D Well, since my brain is pretty much fried from studying for a week, I'll just post about the message at church last week. Here goes:

The message was about the Resurrection and Heaven. The first point was: Heaven is the place where God is and where God's will is done. When the second coming comes, Heaven and earth will be the same. God will come to us here on earth. Also, when I die, I sleep in Christ (or am with Christ). The day will come when I will be raised and given my spiritual body. So, I will always have a body, not just be a floating spirit. The return of Jesus as King is the same as the great resurrection and the establishment of Heaven. Also, Heaven is the place for no grief. I won't be sad. I WILL see my relatives, but my vision will be so fixed on God that they won't matter to me. At the resurrection, my eternal condition is fixed. To sum it up: Heaven is the restored, renewed, earth made fit for God to dwell with his people.

So there!

Abs

October 2nd

Today is THE day for Trent and me. It's our day. We have proclaimed it to be OUR day. It's our anniversary! Exactly 5 years ago today, we were heading to the mall in Trent's jeep after I just got done with cheerleading practice. He was seeking some new cologne and on the way up to the mall, we got to talking about "us." You see, during this time, a lot of people were asking us if we were officially a "couple" yet and we never knew how to answer them. We had been talking and hanging out for a few months previous to this but nothing other than that. So, in the jeep, on the way to U.P. Mall in search for some cologne, Trent and I agreed to be boyfriend and girlfriend. And we even shook on it. The rest is history. Today we exchanged gifts and tomorrow we're heading to Chicago to just hang out, eat some amazing food, and be mushy. It's going to be great. Happy Anniversary, babe. I love you. (imyours)




Abby


(By the way, he bought Lucky brand cologne and he now wears it only on our Anniversary.)

Answer to the Psychology Post

Thank you to those of you who posted your 5 characteristics. It was interesting to me to see what you came up with. So here's the big reveal. The theory that we talked about in my social psych class was that when people are asked to say words that describe themselves, they will typically use words that make them unique to other people. Let me explain- none of you used the word "American." Why? Because we're all American here. Now if you were in, let's say, England, you might use the word "American" to describe yourself. This is because more than likely, there aren't going to be other Americans around you. Get it? In class, I didn't say "student" because there were already a class full of students. Instead, I chose to say "twin" because I knew that I was probably going to be the only twin in the class. We choose these words in order to make ourselves unique to others around us. *whew* you can rest peacefully now that you know the answer to psych question :) And now I will leave you with a hilarious video that I captured Monday morning.




Have a nice day :)

Abs

Saturdays @6 on the 27th of 9th in 08

I really enjoyed this week's message. It was just really comforting to me because I struggle with constantly worrying about dying and if I'm truly "saved" or not. Well, this week's message kind of put some of those apprehensions behind me and I feel a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. The overall message was about what happens when I die. Let me tell ya, there's a little bit of a shocker at the end ;)

Okay, the message started with the point that when I was born, I was physically alive but spritually dead. This is because when I was a baby, I had no clue about God and I only cared about myself- getting fed and having my diaper changed. My physical arrow was pointing up but my spiritual arrow was pointing down. However, when I became a Christian, I was both physically and spiritually alive. Both arrows were pointing up. And then I will die. As one can imagine, I will obviously be physically dead. Here's the shocker (well, one of them): when I die, I will still be spiritually alive. Let me explain...

When I die my spiritual condition is fixed. What does this mean? NOW is the time (when I'm alive) to change my spiritual condition. Because after I die, I will either be spiritually ALIVE (with Jesus) or spiritually DEAD (not with Jesus).

The next point is that followers of Jesus (after they die) are with Jesus and only Jesus. No one else is with me. Not other dead family members or my dog that died a few years ago. Just Jesus. *gasp* WHAT?! I won't even meet up with my other family members who have died?! That's the 2nd shocker.

But the shocker of all shockers: After I die, I'm not going to Heaven. Followers of Jesus go to PARADISE after they die to be with only Jesus. I stay in Paradise with Jesus and wait for the 2nd coming. While I'm in Paradise, I am asleep. Think about it- when I am in a deep sleep now, I have not a care in the world. I am at peace and nothing can bother me. This is why I don't really care that I don't see my family. I am content being with just Jesus because I am asleep. I hope this makes sense.

Now, there becomes a HEAVEN when the 2nd coming of Jesus occurs. AND Heaven will not be in the sky somewhere, it will be here- on earth. The earth will be "restored" and Heaven will be here. I know that Heaven will be here, but I'm not exactly sure where Hell will be. :) C'mon, I don't have all the answers! :) But I do know that non-followers of Jesus, after they die, go to Hades where they are alone. They are not partying with their friends, they are pretty much in solitary confinement. And they weep and gnash their teeth because they wish they were with Jesus in Paradise. As for me, no thank you. I would much rather be asleep with Jesus in Paradise waiting for the earth to be restored into Heaven.

*sigh* Just thinking about this puts me at ease. I can't wait (but I will, I'm not about to commit suicide or anything!) to die and just be with Jesus. Most of all, I can't wait to SLEEP! I love sleep! Ahhhh so relaxing. Alright, I hope this post made a shred of sense to you. It makes perfect sense to me. :)

Abby

Pizza Extravaganza!

Trent and I were first-time homemade pizza makers as of today. Last night, we bought supplies from Woodie's to make the dough and sauce. It was so fun! He's got pictures on his blog from last night. We actually made the pizzas today after I got home from work. And I work at Pizza Hut. hhmmm... I brought home garlic bread at least. Anyway, our pizzas turned out fantastic! They were simple pepperoni and cheese. One thing we would change for next time though is to not make the crust so thick. But that's it! So while Trent is sleeping off his full pizza belly, I'm going to post the videos I took from today before he gets a chance to! HAHA I win.

In this video, I'm kinda interviewing Trent about our pizza day. p.s.- don't mind my burp at the end LOL I was eating a leftover Dairy Queen blizzard. oops.



And this is his first taste of our fabuloso pizza!



What a fun day.

Abby

I sure do love Psychology :D

Right now in my Social Psych class we are studying identity, self-esteem, dispositions, self-concepts and the like. During class on Tuesday, my professor did a little experiment and wrote on the chalk board 10 words that described him. Some of his were: suspenders (he always wears suspenders. He's a big guy), overweight (hence the suspenders), professor, engaged... and others. Then he asked someone in the class to come up with their 10 words. No one would participate so he asked the whole class if they would just tell him 1. Some responses were: hard-working, married, clumsy... etc. I raised my hand and said "twin." Now, there's a little trick to this experiment. What I'm asking from you, the reader, is to give me only 5 words that would describe YOU. Write them in a comment because I want to see if what you tell me goes along with the theory we talked about in class. Thanks for participating! :D ( ilovepsych )

Abs

p.s.- Once I get a few people to do this, I'll let you in on the experiment findings.

Saturdays @6 on the 20th of the 9th in 08

Last Saturday was somewhat odd. Jim had to leave Bremen to see his Mom in Arizona for the week. So instead of having someone else from our church speak, Fred videotaped Jim earlier and we just watched Jim on the projector giving the message. I'm not gonna lie, I was a little distracted by this and had a hard time paying attention to the message. Luckily we have outlines of the message printed out that we can write on, so that saved me. Although, I'm still having a hard time grasping what the message was about. I know that it was about Small Groups again and dealt with heaven. The only thing I wrote down was: comfort/encourage each other in order to love each other. I'm not quite sure what this has to do with heaven, but it's definetely something to take away and apply to my life. In order to love someone, I MUST comfort and encourage them in whatever they do. Yep. That's about it. Sorry guys, I was a little spacey last Saturday with the projector and all. :-/ Next week will be better, I promise! kbye.

Abs

I heart Wednesdays

As you may or may not have noticed, most of the time I blog on Wednesdays. That's because I have a break between my 2 classes from 12:45-2:30. However, today is different. On Monday and Wednesday mornings I come over to Trent's house, get on his computer, and do my homework that's due for that day. Yes, I do my homework the DAY it's due. Don't judge me. :) Like I said, today is different however. For both of my assignments that are due today, I thought they were either due last week or on Monday. Nope. They're due today. Therefore, they're already done! What a wonderful feeling!! *sigh of relief* I like this. A weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I can do anything this morning! I could've woken up at 9 instead of 7, but I didn't. I like coming over here in the mornings. But today I was wondering what I was going to do all morning. Then it hit me: BLOG! I've been slacking on the blogging lately. Oops :-/ So as I listen to James Blunt, be prepared to read, this may be a long one as I catch you up on my.....well, life.

A lot of people have been asking me how I like living in my new apartment. To be honest...... I love it! However, I don't really like the screaming kids that live below us and wake me up at 1:30am or the partiers that go on their balcony at 4:30am and talk/laugh very loud. Those, I could live without. But what makes up for it is the fact that I get to live with my sister. I've lost touch with my Mom and sister over the past few years. It wasn't anyone's fault, it just kinda happened. But anyway, we're beginning to mend those relationships and we've already had a few heart-felt talks with lots of crying. It's a new beginning for us as mother and her daughters. I just love it. I try to be home more often so I can start to develop an independent personality. But I really like being at home so I can see my sister and hear about her day. (I just took a little intermission to make egg sandwiches with Trent. We danced silly in the kitchen. We have fun.) I kinda lost my train of thought. Alright, I like talking and hanging out with my sister everyday but I especially like Wednesdays cuz we go and visit my Mom. You see, my sister used to live with my Mom, and now that my sister and I live together, my Mom is feeling a bit "empty-nested." So we came up with a plan to visit her every Wednesday. (fyi: last week my sister and I also visited my Dad in Granger where he now lives with his girlfriend. They cooked dinner for us, and my Dad took us for a ride in his new car. It was a nice time.) Anyway, we eat and talk and laugh and sometimes cry. It's great. To sum it up: no more awkwardness between us. I'm learning how to have a typical mother-daughter, sister-sister relationship. It just makes me feel so good, what can I say? Alright, enough of that.

So there you have it. Basically, moving into this apartment with my sister was probably the best thing that has happened to me in awhile. I feel different, like my life has a new direction. Many relationships are changing for the better and it's amazing. I haven't been this happy in a long time :)

Abby

Saturdays @6 on the 13th of the 9th in 08

Sorry so late about posting this 4 days later. I haven't had a whole lot of down time between school, homework, church, and social time. However, tonight I have some time to talk about last week's church service. I didn't post about last week because we had a baptism night last Saturday. We did it out at Huff's pond and it was great! I think about 8-10 people got baptized and there was food too! lol. Anyway, about this week...

The main point of it was about small groups and how being in groups keeps us accountable. It was a great message for me to hear because the message was a lot about being connected with other people. It just fit with what's going on in my life now. Things are changing and it's good. Basically, it's good to have...just.... PEOPLE around you! Especially ones you love :) but anyway! Back to the message. Some of the points were that God created for community or togetherness, because when God created man, he realized that man needed a companion. It's good for people to be and talk together. Another point was that people don't feel loved because they don't love others. And it's not love if I make it about myself. If I make it about others, then it's love. Does this make sense? Sorry, I'm watching a re-run of Friends and I can't really concentrate. :) Ok, the point that I really understood and could apply to my life was that I hold up a "DO NOT ENTER" sign to everyone except maybe 2 people. I need to learn to put the sign down and let people in to open myself up to love. So that was really the point that hit me the most.

Ok, time to go study for my social psych test tomorrow! It's gonna be a doozy. Good night world!

Abs

3 years later...

At the beginning of my freshman year at IUSB, I had a xanga website. It's pretty much the same as this, but for a younger generation. My first post in xanga was October 6, 2005. Wow. Almost 3 years ago. That seems like forever ago. But it's fun for me to go back and see what I was thinking/feeling/wondering about when I was only 18 years old. It's amazing how people change so much in so little time. Anyway, one post I made on November 7, 2005, contained a list of things I enjoyed. I looked at the list and a lot of those things I still enjoy. But now there are so many new things. Soooooo.... here's my updated, newer, September 10, 2008 list of things I enjoy. Here it goes! (the majority of them are actually from my old xanga post)

Things I enjoy:
shopping for other people
visiting relatives
napping with Trent
dressing down
falling asleep to the sound of rain (with no thunder, lightning, or wind)
game nights at my Mom's
going shopping with my mom and sister- "the girls"
the smell of Trent's deodorant
car rides to new places
taking hot showers on cold days
tight hugs
being alone
eating Chao Cajun at U.P.
singing very loud in my car
hugging my Mom
making my sister laugh
listening to Norah Jones at night when I get ready for bed
taking a shower in the middle of the afternoon
hearing my Mom's voice
making my brother laugh at me
Trent's big blue-grey eyes
my cute little toes
seeing my Dad smile
sneezing
brushing my teeth
lazy Sundays
hearing Trent's mom laugh
making Hutch "talk"
afternoon naps
being in the passenger seat
casual bike rides
listening to slow songs on my iPod while people watching
learning about anything and everything in my random classes
egg sandwiches before school
watching Trent grill
filling out surveys
making dough at work
"window shopping" at ae.com
deep conversations around campfires
and finally... thinking of things I enjoy

If you want to visit my xanga site just to see what I was into when I was 18-20 years old, the website is www.xanga.com/rellima05.

Abs

Friday mornings at the Hut

Since school has started and I have classes through the week from Mon-Thurs, that allows me to work only on the weekends. Working Saturdays and Sundays aren't the best, but it's a real treat to work on Fridays. How are they different? -you might be asking yourself. Well on Fridays, I get to make dough! Pizza dough that is. Bremen is one in only a handful of Pizza Hut's that actually make their dough fresh in the mornings instead of buying it pre-made frozen. That means that I have to wake up at 6am and be at work by 6:30am to make (15) 220oz bags of dough. But the thing is, I love it! It's like going to an art class. Portioning and mixing the water, oil, and bags of powder that contains all the bread-making ingredients (flour, yeast... you know, the usual). Then rolling it out and stretching it to fit the pan. *Sigh* I just love it. Being alone from 6:30am-9am with my dough. Just a little slice of heaven. I love it so much that I decided to give my readers a peek into Pizza Hut to see how things are done. Here is a gallery of my pizza dough-making sequence. This is how to make Hand Tossed dough.

Below is the powder with the water/oil mixture in the massive mixer. We've recently added oil to the mixture to make the crust less tough and taste sweeter.

And here's what it looks like after 6 minutes when it's done mixing. The big hook swirls around in circles and comes out of the mixer.

After the mixing is over, I take out the dough and put it on this table. This amount is only two bags of dough so it was easy to get out of the mixer :)

Next, I have to cut and weigh each individual piece of dough. I cut a piece off and weigh it: a small weighs 9oz, mediums are 16oz, and larges are 22oz. I only made smalls and mediums with this batch.

By hand, I have to get the dough as round as possible, making sure to get rid of all the rough edges. With this batch, I made 10 smalls and 25 mediums. Only 25 more mediums and 40 larges to go!

Now it's time to roll out the dough. We use a machine to roll it out flat and this is how they come out onto the pan.

Then, by hand, I have to stretch the dough to the edge and perforate it. The perforations keep the dough from rising in the cooler and also keeps it from getting huge bubbles in the oven. This dough is ready to be sauced, cheesed, topped, and put into the oven!

But until then, it will get a lid and be kept in the walk-in cooler to be used throughout the day.

So there you have it. My Friday mornings at the Hut. Fridays are our busiest days therefore we make the most dough on that day. Last Friday I made 1 bag of thin dough, 7 bags of pan dough, and 8 bags of hand tossed dough. That's 10 smalls, 50 mediums, and 30 larges of pan dough. Plus 10 smalls, 50 mediums, and 45 larges of hand tossed. To sum it up, it took me 3.5 hours to make. If you liked this post and want me to show you how I make pan dough, let me know in a comment. I would be happy to :)

-Abby

I should be in bed...

Here I am typing my second post of the day. It's a little past 10:30, my teeth have been brushed, my face has been washed, and I took out my eyes (a phrase my Mom always uses when she means 'I took out my contacts.') Speaking of my Mom, she is the reason I am actually staying awake to type this post. I was just on my way to my bedroom when a phrase popped into my head: There's no praise like a Mother's praise. It's just something that came to me, it's not famous or anything. Anyway, my Mom took my sister and I out to dinner tonight (I'm still full, by the way) and she met us at our apartment after she got done with work. A few minutes after I got home, my Mom says something along the lines of "Nice lamps, Ab!" I nonchalantly (dictionary.com, I actually spelled it right!) responded with "Thanks! Rachel and I are good decorators." Although my Mom's comment didn't mean much to me at the time, tonight while I was doing my nightly 'going to bed' routine, her comment sank in and it made me just feel so good! It's good to get praised every once in awhile, but when I know it comes from a genuine person like my Mom, it made me feel so good. And she wasn't even saying something like "Abby you still look great even though you've gained 14lbs over the summer" or "Your hair looks cute no matter how short I cut it" or "Good job making the Dean's List for the second time." No cliche self-esteem boosting praises at all, just "nice lamps." I have no idea why, but it just made me feel so loved. :)

The funny thing is, at dinner we were talking about my earlier post about how there's nothing I can do to make God love me more or less. My Mom said that that's true for parents too and I agree. Even picking out good lamps at Walmart makes my Mom proud. I think God would be proud of our lamps too :)

-Abby

p.s.- this post probably just made my Mom's day...or even week! :) Thanks Mom, I can rest easy tonight knowing that there's nothing I can do to make you love me more or less. I love you!

Saturdays @6 on the 30th of the 8th in 08

I lied. I did remember to bring home my notes from the service last Saturday. But I have a good excuse for lying! Amongst all the hustle and bustle of moving, my notes got lost in the black hole I like to call 'my purse'. So here is my recap of last week's message: Old Self-New Self

(This will be brief)
Considering we are approaching our baptism night this coming Saturday, last week's message was about just that- baptism. Some of the main points were that baptism means that I am immersed in Jesus. When I am baptized, I get into Jesus, not Jesus into me. God says, "come and live with me." Not "let me live in you." A few more points are that when I am baptized I: die to my old self and am raised to new life(self). I take off my old self and put on my new self. Basically, the old me is gone and there is a new me. I am a new creation. Lastly, followers of Jesus: (1) are new people and (2) get a do-over/fresh start. The point is that Jesus doesn't want me to carry my old junk around because I am a new creation. What's in the past doesn't matter. It's wiped clean according to Him. Does this mean that my future sins will send me to Hell? Nope. Everyday I can get a fresh start by saying, "Today I die to myself and I live to Christ."
I hope I interpreted this okay in my little mind. :-/

Sorry Guys

Today is the first day since my last posting that I've even looked at my blog. To say that least, it's been a CrAzY time since last wednesday. Thursday night I pretty much packed up my whole life and moved into my new apartment Friday morning. Finished moving Friday night and hung out with some friends til the wee hours of the night. (*laughing* because as I am typing this, Trent is singing/playing his piano behind me; singing about me "clickity-clack her fingers as they roll!"... and now he has discovered that I am typing this and now he's singing about what I just typed) LOL anyway! Saturday morning I had an eye appointment at 9am (not good considering I went to bed at 1:30am) and went shopping with my roomate (my sister) to buy groceries and other "homey" things for our apartment. Saturday night was church night and it was good as usual. After church, Trent and I went back to my apartment to sort through boxes and put my bed together. Sunday morning I worked from 10am-2pm and FINALLY got a chance to relax after work. I took a nap at Trent's then went back to my apartment to help my sister move some of her things in. We were gonna go to the blueberry festival fireworks Sunday night but decided we had enough excitement for one weekend and seeing fireworks was just another thing to do. Today was so great because we had nothing planned. We just hung up some curtains and shelves at my place and came back to Trent's house to study for our day back to school tomorrow.

I will probably make another post in the near future containing a more in-depth description of my big move. But for now, I'm utterly exhausted from this weekend. Wow! It was busy. Also, I'm sorry to say that I won't be posting about the church service from this past Saturday. I feel so bad that I forgot to do it yesterday; but today I realized that I even forgot to bring home the outline that had all my notes from the message on it. Oops. The second week of trying to do this thing and I forget to bring my notes home. *sigh* what am I gonna do? I will tell you that it was about baptism though. Maybe I can squeeze in some time this week and blog about it. We'll see! Ok I need to go home and let Trent get some studying done. kbye.

-Abs

The second "1st day of school"

Yesterday I went to my second 1st day of school. If this doesn't make sense, I have the same classes on Mon and Wed and different classes on Tue and Thurs. At 10:00 I had my rediculously easy math class. Our professor made us go around and tell her our name, major, and what we think about math. When it got to be my turn I said, "My name is Abby Miller, I'm a psych major, and I'm not too nervous about this class." All the people in their are so talkative so I already made friends with the people I sit around. It will be fun. After math, Trent and I have a break until 1:00 when our last class starts. During our break we usually go to lunch so we went to McDonald's. Oh yum. I got a 6-piece 'mcnugget' and a small fry. It's cheap. And Trent got 2 double cheeseburgers off of the dollar menu. He's cheap. After lunch we went to the library just to chill out before our last class. I, of course, did my ritual 'chill out' routine by playing sudoku and Trent read his textbooks. My social psychology class started at 1:00 and it's going to be really interesting. It's a different view of psychology, I kinda like it. The professor is pretty neat too. That's about it for that class. We left the school at about 2:15 and headed home for our jog.

Yes, I said jog. I haven't jogged since my freshman year of high school when they made us take P.E. Trent and I decided to do something physical for our 'couple bonding time' and I suggested jogging together after our Tue/Thurs classes. WHY?! did I have to suggest jogging. I hate jogging. I don't know what I was thinking. I am so out of shape it's rediculous. While we were jogging I felt like my heart was going to explode. I was gasping for air after a minute into our jog. To keep a long story short, my legs are rediculously sore and I almost fell down the stairs this morning because of it. I don't know if I'll be able to make it tomorrow. We'll see! So there you go- my second 1st day of school is over.

-Abbynormal

"Can you get me some ibuprofen??"

Last night I went to bed around 10:15. Started out sleeping on my right side. 10 minutes later, rolled over to my stomach. A few minutes later, I was on my left side. Then I ended up laying on my back. Finally at about 11:00 I texted Trent with "I can't sleep." Yep, it's definetely the night before school starts. Luckily, about a minute later after I texted Trent, he called me cuz he was just getting ready to go to bed. After he talked to me for a few minutes, I finally went to sleep.

This morning I woke up at 8 cuz I wanted to straighten my hair and "make a good impression." :) It's a girl thing. It took me about 1.5 hours to get ready then I headed over to Trent's. We got to school, had a heck-of-a-time finding a parking space (like always on the first day of fall semester), but we eventually got to our 11:30 classes. My first class was Intro to Philosophy with a professor that Trent had taken a few years ago. I was so suprised when I saw THREE people that I already knew and felt comfortable talking to. We just did the typical first-day-of-class things like go through the syllabus and do a little group activity. Next, at 1:00 I had my Information Literacy class in the library. It's basically just a required class that teaches us how to use the resources in the library. It's only worth 1 credit and we meet for 50 minutes once a week. It will be cake. My last class of the day started at 2:30 and it's pretty much Russian Art History. GAG. It's not that I don't like art history but Russian?? At least the professor is funny. That class got over at 3:45 and Trent and I headed back to his house.

For some reason on our way home, I started to feel very nauseous. I had a throbbing headache (probably from the information overload) and felt really hot. I wore pants today cuz they always have the AC cranked way up so I'm usually freezing all day. Turns out- not a good idea for the ride home. We got back to Trent's and I went upstairs to the TV room, turned on the fan, pulled my pants and shirt up, and sprawled out on the couch. Trent came up and said, "Do you want my vegetable soup that I'm making?" I said no but asked as he was walking down the stairs, "But can you get me some ibuprofen??" He likes to take care of me :) So needless to say I feel better now, school has started, and things are moving along.

-Abs

Saturday's @6 on the 23rd of the 8th in 08

Before I start the point of this post, I'd like to describe my position at my church- Horizon Ministries. Currently I am the 'master sound technician' (lol my own made-up title) which means I control all the sound during the service. I use a soundboard which has all the microphones and instruments plugged into it. When you see a video, I unmute the computer audio button; when you hear the band rock out, I unmute all the instruments and mics; and when you hear Pastor Jim speak, unfortunately, I unmute his mic. (Haha! totally joking around on that last part... sorry Jim)

But it's not just the unmute button that's in play, I also have to keep a close listen to the volume and other aspects of sound. This is especially the case when I mix sound for the band. Is the electric guitar too loud? Turn it down. Why can't I hear Brittany singing? Turn her up. Does Trent's guitar sound too tinny? Turn down the treble. Does the violinist have a solo coming up? Turn it up. I also have to keep a close listen when Jim speaks. Why is Jim yelling?! Turn him down! (LOL man I am so sorry Jim)

Now you may be thinking, "How in the world can she listen to the message when she is constantly worrying about the sound of everything?" Well, the truth is, I can't. Most nights I go home and I don't have a clue about what was said. And it's not the fact that it wasn't a good message, it's just that I was too concerned about "was that too loud or too quiet??" THEREFORE, I have devised a plan to solve this problem. I WILL pay attention to the message and (hopefully) every Sunday I will post about what was said. This is my way to reflect on the previous night's message as well as give my readers a little taste of what we believe at Horizon. Don't worry, they will be short and to the point :) So here it goes!

The most significant thing that I took away from last night's message (Aug 23) was the difference between religion and Christianity. Basically, religion is about the DO and Christianity is about the DONE. Religion is all about doing good things and not doing bad things in order to get into heaven- I have to be good or God will punish me. But Christianity is all about not having to earn my way into heaven by doing good things because Jesus already took care of it when he died on the cross. I don't have to DO anything, just accept that it's already been done through Jesus.

A few more points that I found particularly comforting were: there is nothing I can do to make God love me more (doing good deeds)- it's not in my hands. And also: there is nothing I can do to make God love me less(even if I totally reject him).

And lastly, Christianity is not about getting my ticket punched and going to Heaven. It's about my relationship with Jesus and bringing him to others.

-Abby

Hello World!

Due to popular demand and a smidge of peer pressure, I have decided to create a blog. I've actually been thinking about creating one for awhile but was very hesitant. Let me tell ya, this took some major thought-processing. Weighing the pros and cons and all that jazz. I just kept thinking, "I have nothing to write about. My life isn't very exciting." Then I heard someone say, "I just like reading about peoples' day-to-day lives." So that's what did it for me. That one sentence was my trigger to start this blog. It's not gonna be about my awe-inspiring ideas or outlooks on life or even a 'how-to' guide on how I think YOU should live your life. I'll try to just keep it about my day-to-day routine and funny/lighthearted stories that happen to me. So.... enjoy!

-Abby (or Abs, or AbbyNormal, or Babs, or Scabs, or Flabby Abby- take your pick)

p.s.- For those of you who don't already know, I have been dating this guy named Trent Miles for about 5 years now. He's my best friend and I will try my darndest NOT to write about him in every single post.