Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Ten on Tuesday (9)

Joining in with ToT again! Go here to Roots and Rings to join in on the fun!





1. What are your thoughts on Valentine’s Day. Do you love it? Hate it? I'm rather impartial actually. I'm definitely one who thinks that special dates, "I love you"s, and generally appreciation for those you love should be a year-round thing. But if Valentine's day happens to be one of those days, then cool. Just don't limit it to that day.

2. What is your favorite romantic comedy? Um...huh...that's a good question. I really enjoy Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I don't know if that counts but let's pretend it does. =)

3. Meg Ryan & John Mellencamp: what’s your first reaction? "What?" No really, what is there to react to. I'm so out of the celebrity gossip loop it's not even funny.

4. All time favorite poem or quote?  "To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.” ~CS Lewis


5. What’s the longest amount of time you’ve gone without sleep? (like consecutive hours). I'm not sure but I would guess it's right around 24 hours. I don't do well without sleep. I love sleep.

6. What color ink do you prefer to use? I usually use black but if I happen to grab a blue pen it doesn't bother me. But for some classes I like to color code my notes so I have a pack of 9 different colors.

7. Share with us a blog that you recently found and fell in love with (and link us!) It's not so recent but my all time favorite blog is the Livesay family

8. If you could be on a reality TV show which one would you choose? None. They all suck.

9. Mountains or Beach? BOTH!! If I had to choose I think I'd go with beach (I am a Florida girl after all). But ideally I'd like to be in an area with both. You know, like Hawaii, Costa Rica, or um Haiti.

10. With the Oscars around the corner, what’s your pick for best picture? I don't have an answer for this. Unless Despicable Me is a contender. I think that's the only movie I've seen recently and truly LOVED. I mean Harry Potter 7 would be my pick hands down if it were completed.

Monday, February 21, 2011

StumbleUpon

My newest addiction: StumbleUpon

It's such a huge time waster but I love it! You find so many interesting new websites this way. Some of them are funny, some of them are interesting, some of them are important. It's awesome!

Here are a few things I've stumbled upon recently:
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1YNyFG
http://www.upack.com/images/info/population.jpg
http://www.threeavocados.org/
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2FK3Nz
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/30vW5r

Do you stumble? Have you found any awesome sites? Link up some of your favorites!

Saturday, February 19, 2011

My First 5k!

So this morning, February 19, 2011, was my first ever 5k race! And I didn't die!

I did the 5 Points of Life LifeSouth Blood Bank 5k here in town. It was a really big event...they even have the half and full marathons tomorrow, too! It went well considering I didn't exactly stick to my "training plan".

So the race started at 8. I got there at 7:40 and wandered around until they told us to go to the start line. I tried to get my nike+ sensor to "activate" and for some reason it just wouldn't. I was so sad that the big race wouldn't go onto my nike account. But I got over it and just turned on some tunes. It was weird starting in a big mass of people. Everyone is running but not really going anywhere at first. The first mile seemed to fly by. I saw the mile marker and was pleasantly surprised. I'm normally starting to get tired and want to walk right around 1 mile. I pushed through but had to stop to walk a half mile (or so) later. That was also the hilly portion of the route so I was glad to walk through that. After walking about a quarter mile I ran until the next water stop. I don't know about you guys but I'm so not talented at drinking while running. So I walked again. But when I finished my little cup of water I started going again. Once again I was proud of myself - sometimes it takes me forever to catch my breath and feel good enough to run again so to take short walk breaks was good thing. Somewhere in there must have been the 2 mile marker. I didn't see it but I'm sure it was there somewhere. I was on the home stretch! I took one more brief walk break and finished the last 3/4 of a mile strong. I got within half a mile of the finish line, saw the crowd, and told myself I wouldn't stop until I was finished. I really wanted to stop but I pushed through all the way to the finish line. Woohoo!

My time was 37 minutes 22 seconds. It's not a super great time but I was happy with it. My goal was to be under 40 minutes. I accomplished that, at least! I was number 257 total and number 23 for my age group. And I don't really care. I wasn't dead last (I was really worried I would be!) and I had a good run, all things considered.

I wasn't sure if I'd want to keep up the running thing after this race but I think I will. I don't think I'll ever be a really serious runner. My pace is slow, I lose my breathe easily, and I have terrible form. But the excitement of finishing and having people cheer for you (as you pant across the finish line) is just so fun! I think I'll keep doing 5k's here and there. Maybe one day I'll run the whole thing without taking walking breaks! But until then, I'm going to be happy with myself. I did it. =)

Pictures to come in a later post!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Doctrine Thursday 4 & 5

I don't know what happened last week. I completely forgot to post the Shorter Catechism questions. It had been a long day at school and after class I got dressed up to go out to dinner for my roommate's birthday. I know, excuses excuses... I am sorry I forgot to do it, though!

So from last week we have:

23. What offices doth Christ execute as our Redeemer? Christ, as our Redeemer, executeth the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation. (See: Acts 3:22, Hebrews 5:6, and Pslam 2:6)

24. How doth Christ execute the office of a prophet? Christ executeth the office of a prophet, in revealing to us,  by his Word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation. (See: Hebrews 1:1-2 and John 16:13_

25. How doth Christ execute the office of a priest? Christ executeth the office of a priest, in his once offering up of himself a sacrifice, to satisfy Divine justice, and reconcile us to God; and in making continual intercession for us. (See Hebrews 4:14, Hebrews 9:28, Hebrews 7:25, and Colossians 1:20)

26. How doth Christ execute the office of a king? Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies. (See 2 Corinthians 10:5, Matthew 11:29, and 2 Timothy 4:18)

Personally, I think I struggle the most with Christ as prophet. God knows all. Everything that has come before us, everything in our lives, and everything that is to come after us. And yet I want to control. I want to be center. I want to see results right now. Ultimately, I struggle with understanding how everything He ordains is for my good and for the good of His Kingdom. The mere thought of a being that knows ALL blows my mind. I can't fathom it. But in His word and in the Holy Spirit I put my faith that He does know, and He is in control. 


As for this week...I'm not going to do questions from the Shorter Catechism. This morning we discussed Arminianism and Calvanism. It was a hard discussion but interesting and ultimately good. I feel like the topics are far too deep to get into on my blog. These things are better saved for real face-to-face conversations and relationships. However, I'd like to open this up for discussion. If you have any thoughts on either side, feel free to share them.

As for myself I would say I'm not really a 5 point Calvanist...at least not without wrestling through things. I see biblical references that point toward Calvanism (and thus away from Arminianism) but it's still not easy. Nothing is clear cut, black and white.

So there it is, folks. Doctrine Thursday is back!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Bug Day Wednesday

If you've been paying close attention, you'll notice that bugs have been on my radar a lot more recently. Ewww. Why? Well, I'll tell you.

I'm taking Principles of Entomology. Again, why? That's a little harder to explain. Uh, sure. I'll have you know that I'm required to take Science Electives, you know, from a list. Oh that sucks. Tell me about it. Nothing I really wanted to take was being offered this Spring so I just picked the ones that sounded easiest and somewhat fun. Bugs? Fun? What were you thinking?


Maybe I should stop having a conversation with myself before all of you out in internet land judge me for 1. taking a bug class and 2. talking to myself. I'm normal, I promise!

Anyway, for my bug class I'm required to catch, kill, and pin 55 different bugs. I turn my collection in for grading at the end of the semester.

Let me just tell you that when the first bug I caught (besides the lady bug I found in my friend's bathroom, randomly) was a big fat cockroach, there was a lot of screaming involved. My roommate J can testify. My heeby jeeby tolerance can only handle so much.

So every Wednesday I plan to update you on my collection. Why? Because I will not suffer enjoy this alone. Plus it will be motivation for me to go out and collect scream. If I have to post updates to share with you guys, I won't want to disappoint you with no new creepy crawlies.

But fear not, I love my readers too much to just make you dive head first into the world of ick like I was foreced allowed to. I'm going to put all pictures behind under the cut (Read More link). But really, they're not so bad. So take a peek.


Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Ten on Tuesday (8)

I'm trying to be regular about joining in on ToT. So go to Chelsea's blog to join in on the fun!


1. Any vacations you are looking forward to this summer? Going to Vancouver, Canada to visit my brother and then also going to Seattle, also!
2. What is your favorite article of summer clothing (shoes are included)? My Chacos? Does that count even though I wear them year-round? Other than that...a swimsuit (I own way too many to count)! I live in Florida, people!
3. What is your favorite summer drink (alcoholic or non)? Lemonade, hands down!
4. Do you tan or burn? It depends. If I'm good about my sunscreen, I'll get a gradual tan throughout the summer. But slip up on the sunscreen and its lobster red and peely for a week. =(
5. Any goals you are working toward this summer? Haha...deiciding the rest of my life... See my previous post. Ha!
6. What is your favorite summertime food? Watermelon! And corn on the cob!
7. What song most says “summer” to you? Any and all cheesy songs by Jimmy Buffet. =D
8. Any home improvement goals planned for this summer? Negatory. Well, moving out of my apartment if that counts. Though it won't be an improvement if I'm homeless living in a box. Ha! Dearly hope that doesn't happen!
9. What is one thing you hate to see at the beach? Speedos. Especially on old men. There are some images that get burned into your retinas for life. Ouch.
10. Did you ever go to a summer camp? No. I volunteered for a summer camp back in high school though. That was fun!

Haiti, Haiti, Haiti

You know, like Marsha Marsha Marsha.

*crickets*

Anyway... I don't know if I'm trying to push it too hard or maybe that I'm not pushing it hard enough but either way, plans I make never seem to work. It's a good thing I have Someone so much bigger, better, and more powerful making plans for my life, eh?

If you've been reading for any amount of time, you'll know that I'm graduating from UF in May. I'm excited, nervous, anxious, elated, sad, and happy all rolled into one. Most people have taken to asking me the WORST QUESTION EVER. Yes people, it's worse than the endless "Where are you from? What's your major?" that I got as a freshman. People keep asking me what I'm going to do after graduation. I tend to gulp for air, feel warm, mumble some sort of half-response, and hope they don't ask any further questions about it or I may just faint.

Seriously. I have NO CLUE what I'm doing after graduation. Well, for the first year.

Here's what I know so far:

  • Graduate in May.
  • Continue working in Gainesville until my apartment lease is up at the end of July.
  • Do something for a year.
  • Go to PA school in August 2012

As for that year-long something I have a few options. Some are far-fetched (a girl can dream, right?) while others are more practical.

  • Move home, live with my parents, work as a CNA at the hospital. (Mom's really pulling for this option)
  • Stay in Gainesville, sign another lease, continue working at my job and probably pick up another one at the hospital.
  • Move to Colorado for the year with a friend. Split rent, find a job in a hospital out there.
  • Move to Wisconsin, live with my aunt, work at a hospital.
  • Last but not least, do medical missions in Haiti for 10 months. This is what I want to do most. This is where my heart is. This is why I'm probably not pursuing any other options fully, yet. Sigh.
So what should I do? I've talked seriously to MTW, emailed some other people, and talked to some missionaries that I know down there. Nothing seems to be coming to fruition. Couple that with the financial worries - raising support, knowing I have student loans in my future, etc; and the fact that my parents are too excited about the idea of their daughter moving to a 3rd world country... Do I try harder? Do I quit trying and take it that I'm not meant to go?

What should I do? Really. Tell me. There's a poll on the right. Oh and pray for me too?

Monday, February 14, 2011

I'm a craft killer

I'm writing this at 1:30am...just a heads up for the bad grammar that's ahead.

So I'm not very crafty. At all. My mom is a seamstress and I've played around with her sewing machine a handful of times. I've never made anything worthy of keeping. So I don't know why I got it in my head all of the sudden to sew myself a purse. I've been wanting a new over the shoulder satchel hippie purse thing. I have one but it's super bright colored, goes with nothing I own, and has ohms all over it...and I'm so not into that sort of thing! (I bought it before I realized what the symbol was/meant)

So like all good craft projects, I started in on my endeavor at 10:30pm. I found this pattern and decided to give it a shot. I scrounged around in the attic for my mom's scrap material. I found a a yard or so of fleecy pajama fabric and some white material that would work for a liner. And I was off. I made a makeshift pattern out of lime green scratch paper. I designed it to be a little larger than the one shown in the pattern...and with a longer strap. I cut my fabric and had my mom set up the sewing machine (because I'm inept at things like that).

I got the outer layer (pajama fabric) sewn beautifully and continued on to the liner. Mistake number one: sewed the beveled corners into the wrong part of the bag. I had to cut the straps off and sew them back on. Hey, it was better than starting all over, right? I continued. The pattern called for a cute little inside pocket. I got it cut and sewn on. Easy peasy. LIES! I sewed the pocket onto the wrong side. I had to pull all of the stitches out and sew it onto the other side. Of course I couldn't find my mom's seam ripper so I mangled my way through the seams using a cuticle clipper...yes, one of those things you use to cut off nasty hangnails and junk. It's all about ingenuity at 11:30pm. As I was ripping the stitches out I realized that just because a pattern says "Sew Easy" or "My two year old made this, you can too!" DOES NOT mean I can do it. Hey, at least you readers out there in internet world don't have to worry about SFJ turning into yet another craft blog!

I finally got the stitches out and I got back to sewing. Halfway through the pocket I ran out of bobbin thread. I only know what it's called because my mom got sick of me calling it the "bottom thread" and insisted I call it by its proper name. Now, I've never changed bobbin before. I always asked mom to do it. Why not, she's always willing to help. Um...mom was sound asleep by this point. So off to YouTube, I go! Mind you, my mom's sewing machine is probably at least 30 years old. They certainly don't make them like they used to. No really, they don't! I'm pretty sure I watched 7 videos before I found one that worked at least remotely like my mom's. After watching the video and pausing it step by step a number of times followed by me testing, trying, failing, trying again, I finally got it back in and working! Pocket sewn on.

So now what? Well sew the outer layer and the liner together, of course! I looked at the pattern/instructions over and over again, trying to figure out which side was in and which was out. When you sew things with multiple layers and inverted, it gets very confusing. Especially at 12:00am. So I stare at the picture, fiddle with my purse pile of fabric and decide to go for it. Somehow I convinced myself that I had already made enough mistakes that I'd paid my dues and this time it would go smoothly. And so I sewed the pieces together and inverted.

Immediately I realized that I had made 2 more mistakes. First was that I really needed the gap in stitching that I had ignored later. It had said to leave a hole in the liner for future right-side-outing (yup, I just made up that word). I had decided that was silly. And so now I found myself having another date with the seam ripper cuticle clipper, ripping out my stitches to create a hole. My second mistake was considerably larger. My decision about which way was in and which was out failed me. My liner ended up inside out. The yucky side of the seams were inside my purse and the pocket I had worked so hard on TWICE was sandwiched in no-mans land between the liner and the outer layer. Completely sealed off. Hey, at least it's the ultimate pickpocket protection! *facepalm*

So I cut a slit in the liner so as to reach the pocket. I sewed a flap down to feign some semblance of pretty, though I"m pretty sure all hope for that was lost by this point. I sewed my real pocket flap to the other side so that my phone and keys wouldn't accidentally slide down into the black abyss that exists between the liner and the outer layer. And with that I sewed the straps together and was finished.

But of course I wanted to iron the seams to flatten them out and get them to lay straight. But where is the iron? I haven't lived in this house in 4 years and I came to realize I had NO CLUE where my mom kept the iron. I searched in the laundry room, utility closet, linen closet, parents bathroom, hall bathroom. NO STINKING IRON! Where do people keep irons nowadays?!?

So what does my 1:25am brain decide to do? Why heat up a pot of water, of course! I'm bound and determined to finish this project. There's no stopping me now! Er, that may be the delirium talking. So I lay a towel on the kitchen counter and place the purse pile of fabric on it. I boil the water. Once I get a nice bubble going I used the underside of the pot to press out the seams of the purse. No singeing. I continue. It only half-worked. My seams are now semi-flat. I plopped my wallet into it and slung it over my shoulder. It didn't break...that's a start. We'll see how it holds up when it accumulates the usual amount of junk my purses contain. Because, yes, of course I'm going to use it!! I'm too stubborn not to. =P

If my wallet, keys, or phone go missing in the coming weeks we'll all know what to blame it on. ;)


PS: I had started taking pictures of my progress as all good bloggers do but subsequently stopped once the frustration, sleepiness, and sheer madness set in. The following are the ones I took.

Fabric selection

Making the pattern

Cutting the fabric

Fluff Ball wanted to help

Finished product

My slice and dice pocket

How ghetto is that?!?

Modeling it in the backyard. All good models close their eyes, don't they?


Sunday, February 13, 2011

Hannah's Hot in Here Cover (Acoustic)

Hot In Here


So a few weeks ago I told you about my friend H who played at Satchels Pizza.

I finally figured out how to put the clip on blogger. It's not the greatest quality ever - taken with my phone and then processed on blogger - but it's still downright awesome. It's just the end of the song.

Feel free to leave some comment love, I'll forward them to her. =)

THIS JUST IN: The copy I put on YouTube is of better quality. Watch it here... Or here...

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Blogger, Blogging, and Google Analytics

Sorry everyone, this is just going to be a quick post.

So I love Blogger. It makes stats so simple and easy. I get to see the basic ins and outs of whats going on. It's wonderful. BUT...I've heard Google Analytics is even better. I signed up for it a long time ago but never did much with it - didn't think I needed to. So once I started the 31DBBB I figured I'd try to figure it out.

The problem is that nothing seems to be quite right. My visits, page views, subscribed readers, etc. all seem way low. Compared to blogger stats, I'm seeing like 5%. What gives?!? I know my traffic has increased recently so why is it still low...way low? Anyone know how to fix it??? HELP! I'd like to be able to see more details about my blog traffic. I've got the basics covered on blogger...lets get the nitty gritty, too!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

To follow up on my last post...

Just to follow up briefly on my last post, I wanted to quickly list the books that I'm currently trying to read and what I would like to read, some day. Maybe this summer!

Blue Like Jazz
The Kite Runner
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Mere Christianity
Science and Faith: Friends or Foes?
When Helping Hurts
Ministries of Mercy
The Shack

Have you read any of these? What did you think? What did you like/not like? Do you know where I can buy them for cheap? Do any of you have an old copy that you don't want any more and could send to me?

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

KEZ's top 10 reads

I'm a reader. Actually, I want to be a reader. And by that I mean that I have minimal time to read. I love reading but I usually get caught half way through a book when a big project or exam comes up. The book starts to collect dust and eventually gets put away. I just don't have the motivation to continue...especially when I already forgot the beginning!

But for all of you readers out there, here is a list of my top 10 reads.

  1. Where the Red Fern Grows. As a kid, I read this book up in a tree in my back yard so that no one would see me crying. It was such a good book but man was it a tear jerker!
  2. Mountains Beyond Mountains. Those of you who have read my How I Fell in Love with Haiti page know the story behind this one. But a quick summary: I read this as a freshman at UF. It opened my eyes. I've read it multiple times since.
  3. Following Jesus Through the Eye of a Needle. This was a book that totally changed me...or at least continued to change me. It is the semi-inspiration for my blog title. It's definitely worth reading if you're ever curious about Haiti, missionary life, and what exactly Matthew 19:24 means.
  4. Crazy Love. Oh gosh. Frances Chan definitely will put you down, pick you up, and point you to God throughout the entire book. I highly recommended it to anyone who wants to know God better. Thank you A for giving it to me!
  5. Harry Potter 1-7. Um DUH! Yes I know its about witches, wizards, and witchcraft - all things non-biblical. It's still awesome. Some of the greatest stories ever written are completely fake - just think of Shakespeare. 
  6. To Kill a Mockingbird. I've read this a handful of times. I'm pretty sure I even own two copies of it...somewhere. It's a powerful book that will open your eyes to days of old...and how in some ways, it's not too different from now.
  7. The Diary of Anne Frank. To be honest, this was hard for me. I didn't exactly like it. It's difficult to get through and think about. But I think that's exactly why it should be on everyone's reading list. We may never understand fully but at least we can get a small taste.
  8. Bridge to Terabithia. Oh wow, another tear-laden book from childhood. It's just so good!
  9. The Great Gatsby. You'll be entertained, you'll be confused, you'll be saddened. Interesting story about where you put your faith. 'Tis the American Dream.
  10. The Bible. With the majority of my favorite books being "secular" (though it's not really a bad thing per say) I just had to include it. Um yea, I adore my ESV study bible. It's pretty wonderful.

Monday, February 7, 2011

First Ever Blog Award!




Thank you so much to Praises of a Wife and Mommy who gave my my first ever blogging award!

Here are 7 fun facts about me:

1. I have an infatuation with Haiti. It's not even a me thing - it's totally a God thing. Go see my How I Fell in Love With Haiti page for details... If you want, of course.
2. I have lived in Florida for my entire life but I have a good mix of cultures because my parents are both northerners (from Wisconsin). Go Packers!
3. I love JESUS...because He loved me first. (Had to steal one of your "facts"...it's just too good!)
4. I'm ridiculously excited to graduate college and enter the "real world". I'm less afraid than I thought I would be - especially considering I have no clue what I'm doing. But my faith is in the Lord and He knows the plans He has for me.
5. I like cleanliness but don't care about clutter. I like to call my room "organized chaos"
6. I got a cat for my 8th birthday. Her name is Fluffy. I love her even though she's fickle and ornery.
7. I've never been a giver of nicknames but I've managed to collect quite a few. (Note: my blogging name "KEZ" actually was born from a nickname of mine) And I love calling other people by their nicknames. =)

There are some rules that go along with this. 

1. You have to Thank the person who awarded you & Link them back in your post

2. Tell Everyone 7 random facts about yourself

3. Pass the award on to 15 new found bloggers

4. Contact each blogger and let them know you've passed the award on to them, & let the "giver" know you accept the award.

Here are some bloggers that I want to give the award to that I have recently found and like a lot! (In no particular order)



1. Be Joyful Always
2. Greetings from Guatemala
3. Eat drink and be Jesus
4. Life Between the Trees
5. Losing Brownies
6. Saved by Love Creations
7. Scribbles From Emily
8. She Becomes...
9. Somewhere Between Where I Was and Who You're Making Me
10. Trying to Throw My Arms Around the World
11. What if I Stumble and Make Fools of Us All?
12. Love U More Than Anything...
13. Hyperbole and a Half
14. This Is Me...
15. Livesay [Haiti] Weblog

31DBBB Starts Today!

Hey everyone out in internet-land! Today is the first day of 31DBBB by ProBlogger. Feel free to join in!!!

Today we're creating an "elevator pitch". Basically it's a summary statement of a blog that is short (enough to be said on an elevator ride) and to the point. I didn't exactly know what to do for my "elevator pitch" so I took the time to write my About KEZ/SFJ page.

I've been wanting to write my "about me" page since I started blogging...um...4 months ago. I just lacked the motivation to do it. And here it is on day 1!

It's elevator length...if you're going to the 20th floor. Ha! I just couldn't summarize easily. Can't put God in a box, right?

So yea, I guess this is where I ask you to check it out and give me feedback. What do you think? Too long? Too boring? Too rambling? Let me know! I want to know...I think.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Weekend Wrap-Up

I'm helping a blogger out and joining in with her meme this week! She's just getting it started so feel free to join in! She blogs at In Him We Live and Move and Have Our Being


Here are the questions:
The best thing that happened to me this week was having a wonderful conversation with a good friend!
The worst thing that happened to me this week was having to watch online entomology lectures. =(
The funniest thing I saw/heard/did this week was my friends laughing hysterically in class for absolutely no reason. They simply COULD NOT stop laughing!
The craziest thing I saw/heard/did this week was go to a Zumba class. It doesn't seem very crazy but for me, it was CRAZY! I'm not a dancer, I'm really uncoordinated, and I'm gangly. But it was fun!
The thing I was most thankful for this week was good friends who share wisdom with me. 

Friday, February 4, 2011

31DBBB and Life

So! If you've seen me on BlogFrog at all, you will know that I'm attempting to participate in 31 Days to Build a Better Blog. It starts on 2/7/11. It shall be interesting, to say the least. If you're interested in joining in, please go to the Secret To Success Is Support forum and get the details. And then, of course, tune in on Monday to see the progress! Hopefully it turns me into a better blogger and thus, SFJ into a better blog!

Life...I'm heading home this weekend to celebrate a friend's birthday and watch the superbowl. (Go Pack Go!) I'm excited to see my family and relax a bit at home - should be fun! Speaking of family, though, I got to sit in on my dad's class on Thursday! My dad guest teaches for a class offered here at UF every other year. I wasn't able to go two years ago (back when I was a wee sophomore) but I scrambled and made it happen this year! It was really weird to see my dad in a professional setting - teaching, answering questions - but cool at the same time. It was kind of nice to just sit in on a class - no notes, don't have to really learn the material. Everyone else was writing or typing my dad's every word...I just got to listen. Woohoo! And Go Daddy!

In other news, on Wednesday I got to go see my friend, H, play guitar and sing at Satchels. It was really cool. I brought my friend, A, and we got to eat in the bus beforehand.



Yes, this place (super awesome and delicious pizza!) has an old VW bus on the property. They gutted it and put 2 tables inside for you to eat in. It's a special thing to be able to eat in the bus! So cool! And after eating we listened to H and her friends play and sing. I took a little bit of video of her acoustic version of "It's Getting Hot in Here". If/When I figure out how to get it on my computer and then put it on the blog (and get her permission of course) I'll post it for you all to enjoy.

Finally, my last little random "life" tidbit for the day: on Thursday night I went to my first ever Zumba class. My old co-worker M teaches the class. Let me just tell you that she is a saucy Puerto Rican woman. She may be small but she is packed full of Latina spice! It was really fun and surprisingly a great workout. I'm pretty sure I found my long lost abs...they've been missing up until they started getting angry at me for using them. Yep, just sneezed - ouch!!

Anyway, I should probably go spend some quality time with Jesus...do the whole read my bible thing. ;) But one last note: if there are any Packers fans out there feel free to tune into my twitter (KEZBlogger) for updates. Feel free to follow, reply, or retweet...unless of course you're a Steelers fan in which case you can keep your comments to yourself PLEASE!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Doctrine Thursday (3)

So today I'm going to skip around a little bit. Some of the questions I'm going to post are thought provoking. A lot of the reason why I do this every Thursday is that it helps me process things to type them out. As I type, I think. As I think, I pray. It's good for me. So yes, there it is, folks. I do this more for me than for you. Sorry. But with that in mind, I'm justifying skipping around otherwise this week would be novel-length...and that would be no good at all.

Ok so this week from the Shorter Catechism:

10. How did God create man? God created man, male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures. (See: Genesis 1:27-28, Ephesians 4: 24)

Remember this post, not so long ago, where I confessed my confusion about being made in the image of God? It's no coincidence that I read through this question and its corresponding verses today. God answers our questions and responds to prayers!

14. What is sin? Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the Law of God. (See: Luke 10:31, Luke 22:61)

Sin is always so difficult, or awkward at the very least, to define. I love this answer because it's short, to the point, and makes sense. Basically there are two types of sin: not doing what He commands and doing what He forbids.


16. Did all mankind fall in Adam's first transgression? The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity; all mankind - descending from him by ordinary generation - sinned in him, and fell with him, in his first transgression. (See Romans 5:18-19, 1 Corinthians 15:22)

So all humans (except Jesus who was fully God AND fully man) are affected by the fall. None of us are exempt. No one is better than another.


18 and 19. Wherein consists the sinfulness and misery of that estate whereinto man fell? The sinfulness of that estate consists of the guilt of Adam's first sin, the want of original righteousness, AND all of the actual transgressions which proceed from it. All mankind by their fall also lost communion with God and are under His wrath and curse and so made liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever. (See: Ezekiel 18:4, Genesis 3:17, Psalm 9:17)

This one has a lot of rabbit holes that you can go down. I'm going to avoid that. It's enough to process in itself.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Ten on Tuesday (# Who Knows...?)

Second week in a row! Go here for the original post!


1. What is your favorite childhood memory?
Oh gosh. Playing until the sun goes down. Building forts. Riding bikes. Playing pretend
2. What is your favorite quality about yourself?
The love that God has given me for the poor, less fortunate, and downtrodden.
3. What is your favorite thing that your child does?
I am sans kids.
4. What is your favorite thing to do to relax?
Honestly? Sleep! Nothing beats a great nap or a full nights sleep!
5. What is your favorite restaurant? And what is your favorite thing on the menu?
Oh wow. Hard to choose! I'm going to have to go with Satchels and quite possibly BJ's Brewhouse. Yum yum yum!!!
6. What is your favorite piece of jewelry (besides your wedding ring)?
I wear my cross daily so that. And I adore my ring that my grandma gave me as a baby. It still fits my pinky finger so I'll wear it on occasion.
7. What is your favorite night of the week M-TH? And why?
My favorite day of the week has always been Thursday (even when Friday/the weekend is included in the poll). I don't know why, though. I decided once as I walked home from the bus stop in middle school.
8. What is your favorite dessert?
I LOVE ice cream.
9. What is your favorite item in your make-up bag?
Lip stain. It's a miracle worker for pale lips (which mine sometimes are) 
10. What is your favorite smell?
Honestly, I don't know! Not to say I don't have a favorite smell. I do, I just don't know what it is. I smelled it first last year in Savannah, Georgia. Every once and a while I get a whiff of it and it makes me smile and reminds me of the road trip I took with my Momma. I'm still trying to figure it out. =)