Smiles

The Greatest Place To Pray?

Last night at small group there was a bit of a discussion about prayer and the greatest place to do it. The boys all said the bathroom. We, girls, thought that was a bit not right, but unfortunately for me I have to agree with the boys on this one... let me explain....

2 years ago I did a semester abroad in Costa Rica as a fulfillment of my Spanish major. Our home base was Costa Rica, but we also got to travel to Nicaragua, Panama, and Guatemala. I loved my entire time there and I wish I could've stayed there forever.

Now in Panama we visited an indigenous people group called the Kuna Yala. They live on a bunch of islands off the coasts of Panama and Colombia. We lived on an island that was maybe 4 square blocks in size. The left stick hut in the picture is the bathroom that I used for 5 days. The other stick hut is the lobster/crab cage. There was a two-by-four that you had to walk to get to the "bathroom." There was a hollowed out stump that you sat on to do your business and it was usually moist(and you hoped that was just from it being over the ocean). I prayed like Jesus was coming back tomorrow on that thing. It was scary and you could feel the current. It wasn't the most stable structure ever.

Here is a view from... well I was standing on the two-by-four that led to the "bathroom" to take this picture of my host siblings. We slept in hammocks. We ate fish. We lived in solidarity. And in poverty. Of course, they saw themselves as rich because they had a fishing business and they had 30 coconuts. It was a crazy 5 days, but well worth it. My eyes were opened to so many things.

My high school youth pastor had this saying. "God is known, love is felt, lives are changed." Well that saying explained my entire trip.

Maybe I'll blog more about my semester abroad and use my pictures. This is just a small taste of it all. :-)

Track

Yesterday at work, I was ringing up a man's Bible purchase and he said to me, "Do you know Jesus?" And then proceeded to hand me a track. I said, "Yes I do," and tried to give him his track back. I then said something to the effect of you can give this to someone who doesn't. He then said, "Well maybe you should double check and read this." Where he then handed the track back to me. I bit my tongue and smiled and got a real sick feeling in my stomach. He left and my coworkers and I couldn't believe that had just happened.
Now I did read the track. I didn't disagree with it other than it used a lot of words with ith and eth at the end of them(I'm pretty sure this guy was from a KJV or else denomination--not that its a bad thing, but I'm a little more open to other translations). Maybe if I hadn't been on the clock, I would have told this man how inappropriate it was for him to ask me to double check if I know Jesus.
I'm pretty sure it says somewhere to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Then there's this idea that I agree with where yes you make that big first time decision to follow Jesus, but its a daily decision too. I mean I work to be a excellent as I can be, but I do fail sometimes so I do need to make a concious decision. Keep myself in check.
I do find it funny that the guy felt the need to ask me that. But what erks me the most is that he didn't even believe me. The entire transaction took like 3 minutes. How could he come to the conclusion that I'm a dishonest person in that amount of time?
We(all of us up front at the time it happened) did get a pretty good laugh out of it. At least I did hold my tongue with him and not lash out. I mean it could have gotten ugly.

Randomness inspired by Jenn

So this really cool person I know named Jenn posted 10 random facts/thoughts about herself a few days ago and I decided to do the same. You can read it or not.

1. I love building/making/creating things. Currently, I am building a little shelf organizer thing that my mom got me at IKEA(!!!) and when it is done I plan to paint it a beautiful shade of yellow(they're all beautiful). And Wednesday I'm going to start designing my next purse project. I also need to finish embroidering on my Bible cover. It has a lot of empty spaces that need a personal touch to them.

2. I was born in Defiance. No really. Its a town in Ohio. Check my birth certificate.

3. Me encanta hablar en español. Ojalá que haya tenido alguien a hablar conmigo en mi lengua favorita.

4. (side note: wow, this is hard to come up with these facts/thoughts all at once) My favorite movie is (of all time) 2001: Space Odyssey, with the close second being Cars.

5. My favorite color is yellow. It is such a happy color. But definitely needed in moderation. It can be overwhelming if improperly used.

6. Knowing that God has something for me to do in the future makes doing my retail job a whole lot easier sometimes, but knowing that God has put me in my current position for a reason also helps me to get up in the morning and return to my not-so ideal job.

7. I'm fickle about the whole falling in love thing. Somedays it sounds great and then other days it sounds awful. I guess half of me is an adult and the other half an elementry age girl who thinks that boys have cooties. I also think that love looks different that what it is portrayed in Hollywood.

8. I'm a big journaler... journal writer? Well needless to say, that's the reason I don't blog much. My thoughts are too... private... maybe offensive... blunt? I don't know, but I just would rather keep them to myself, but for the most part my journal entries are pretty dull. Also, I think that if you really want to know what's happening inside my head, you should just ask. I'll probably tell you.

9. I'm a poser. I try to make it seem like I have half a clue when it comes to musical things, but I really don't. It takes me hours to transpose. I have trouble finding other notes(well other than the root) that work in a chord(which seems to be a pretty important skill for bass players). I don't have an internal rhythm, which is why its really hard for me to keep a beat. There's just a lot of things I don't understand and the only reason I get a few things is because my really cool colllege roommate Becca has given me cheat sheets. I am trying to get better. I'm a pretty linear person. Music is like an emotion to me so my linear brain has trouble grasping what is happening. I do believe that some songs are just made for a person. Like they tug at your heart strings. Like you can just feel the song around you. (and now you know why I journal... its thoughts like these)

10. Ok the last one. I will always love the Newsboys. I know they're taking a turn for the even worse and yes, I do wish they would retire so that we could just remember their Not Ashamed through Thrive years. But they're not going to so I'm going to continue to buy their over priced cds of stuff I already have. Thanks to GO coming out for the 3rd full time(its live this time), but seriously I'm a loyal person. They could pull a Ray B and I'd still love them. (That would explain the eyeliner that they wear almost all of the time). Ok yes that was wrong, but admit it... you laughed.

That was fun. I'd do more, but I should end it here. You should do it too. :-)

New Rob Bell book

Sometimes I wonder why I bother reading the new stuff. Especially from him.
I enjoyed Velvet Elvis and didn't like Sex God, so I knew this book could be either. Well it was both.
He does a comparison between Israel and Christians. He makes some good points, but they're all destroyed by repetion and awful writing. Did anybody proof this book? Now I know he writes like he talks(which work in VE), but this was just bad. Everything was hard to follow because of the way it was written. Now maybe he wanted you to have to reread every paragraph or mini sentence. But seriously.
Also he wasted so much paper with that book. There is so much blank space in it. That's probably so I can make my own remarks next to his words, but when I don't own the book then that's pretty pointless space there.
I like the explanation of the 4 periods of Israel and his comparison to other things that have those same 4 periods. But I don't know about him.
Well I actually wanted to stop reading after the 3rd chapter, but knew that people would ask me about so I decided to finish it.
But really... I don't think reading it is necessary.
If you want to read a good book... then try Jesus for President by Shane Claibourne(sp?). But that is just my opinion.

Culture Shock

I found my journal from my semester abroad last night.... Ok I didn't find it... I knew where it was, but I decided to read it again last night.
Wow those were some wild times.
Well today is Costa Rica's independence day. They celebrate real good. All the school kids make paper lantrums(sp) and there's a parade every 3 blocks or so. Wild.
So today I'm in this pseudo-culture shock phase. I mean I just spent 2 hours reading my journal and reliving my entire semester in a matter of 40 minutes per month spent there.
This could also explain why I've been a little more cranky that usual. I mean, I came back from CR with a huge chip on my shoulder and questions/thoughts that no one else could relate to. Well now that its been 2 years since I went I think the chip is reforming. I've just been cynical about the US and the world around.
I've got to find my non-cynical place again, but never forget what I learned in CR.

Love

Love Caedmon's.
Love outside.
Love Sundays.
Love being me.
Love dancing.
Love friends.
Love love.

What could be better?

I fought the bird

Today was supposed to be relaxing and wonderful. Its my day off. Yes its raining, but that can't stop a good day.
But there is one thing that can stop a good day. That item is a note from your dad saying that there is a bird in the basement. Now normally that wouldn't bug me, but when today is also laundry day and the washer/dryer are in the basement, that note seems to be a bit on the not-so-good side of things.
I made it downstairs with one load and got it started. Now in my house we can close the doors(sliding awful ones) to cut the kitchen off from the rest of the house and the basement stairs come up into the kitchen. So I knew I could keep the bird at bay... well at least just in the kitchen.
That bird came upstairs and saw our large picture window in the kitchen and thought it could escape from there. I heard thud after thud. This bird could not understand that no matter what part of the window it went to that it still could not leave through the window. It seriously broke my heart hearing the thuds. I called my dad and he gave me the number for our animal control. I called and left a frantic message on their phone. This was also after the bird escaped the kitchen and flew a couple of times into the big mirror in our living room. Animal control called me back and said they'd send someone out. The bird had flown back into the kitchen so I resealed all the exits. I tried to reason with the bird. I asked God to tell the bird to come to me and I'd take it outside. Have you tried reasoning with a bird? Well you just feel foolish. The animal control guy was here about an hour ago and got the bird out. She had left the kitchen and was waiting in the dining room. Now mind you, I had been dealing with the bird since I woke up so there was no making Katie look good. I talking pjs, hair sticking straight up, just nastiness. Good thing I did put a mint in my mouth before the dude came.
My nerves are still shot. I hear a bird chirping outside and I get all nervous that it could be in the house. Okie. Hopefully the rest of the day will be less eventful.

The quieter side of me

This is day 2 in my throat's assault on my poor worn out body. I have so much that I have usually said by this time in the week, but I can't. There's nothing that comes out other than (on a good moment) raspy nasty-ness. And that's only if I feel like responding to you. So I stayed at home today and watched Soaps, right? Far from it. I still went to work. What was I thinking? I mean I never answer the phone or deal with customers all day when I'm at work. Psshh. I mean I can always handle a few "I heard this song and it sounds like every other song, but it said Jesus in the chorus... maybe a few times and it talked about hard times and the cover of the album is definitely blue" or "there was a book on Dobson today about parenting, could you tell me what it was?"
Or my personal petpeeved on of the day... "my daughter won't read the Bible if its cover isn't pink." WHAT? What happened to a love of God's Word no matter what it looked like? Now I can understand translation preferences, but I don't like people buying a Bible because of the way it looks. Or attending a certain church because of the way it looks. Or hanging out with certain people because of the way it looks. You get my drift. Its the inside that matters anyway. Pooh.
Ok done. Glad I couldn't say that to the customer this afternoon otherwise I wouldn't have a job for tomorrow. :-/

Moldy Peaches

Here is the church and here is the steeple. We sure are cute for two ugly people.
I don't see what anyone can see in anyone else... but you.

It doesn't get any better than that... well... unless you listen to the rest of the song.

Someday I'll come up with something as good as that... maybe even better.

You rock like a new pair of shoes

That's a new one. Yes a new one, but I like it. Surprisingly I got that from a guy. :-) Not surprising that I'd get a compliment from a guy, but surprising that rockness would be compared to new shoes... as in a great thing.

:-)

I am happy. Truly happy. Like from the inside out and it feels great. Ok so maybe if its joy because its not necessarily based on my surroundings. I can't even explain it. So I won't try. Nope. Not at all. :-)
In other news, I love using wireless at fast food places. There's something so surreal about it. DQ is my fav place to get the internet for my dinosaur of a computer. There's this one booth that I love to sit in and I can see everyone. Those coming in. Those eating with their families. I guess sometimes I can be a bit of a people watcher. But what's nice when I'm using my compy at DQ I can be staring just over the screen and no one knows that I'm really looking at them spill ketchup all over their white pants. LOL.

Wasn't impressed

So I went and saw Prince Caspian with my family last night. Now I'm not going to give away anything because I hate when people do that to me. It was good for just being a movie... but for being a movie based on CS Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia... yeah not so much of a good movie. I usually like the book better than the movie in most cases like this. I imagined Narnia definitely in the book. Also there's a lot of things I don't remember from the book in the movie. (wait that could be because they're not in the book).
I'm also not impressed with my family's new keyboard that I am using right now. Good thing I'm proof reading all of this because I'm making so many typos trying to figure out this thing. It has a wave in the middle of the keys. Its weird. And they don't type the same way. I'm not a fan yet. So maybe I'll have to write my posts on my laptop and then use my thumb drive to get them to this computer. I don't know.
I'm excited about one thing though... with Memorial Day being this Monday. That means I get 2 days off. Sweet!!! I only have to work 4 days this week!!! What will I do with my extra day? I don't know. A little nap nap and a long walk and a good book sound like the perfect day to me. Yippie skippie!!!

Read it

Ok. Read The Shack by William Young. Just do it. You won't regret it. Well at least I don't think you will.

Reasons why the band I'm in needs a gig

Yes that's right. I want a gig.
Reason 1: I need some more motivation.
2: I need something to do on Friday nights.
3: I really want some audience member(male of course and over the age of 20) to go... OMG who is that ridicuously cute bass player and is she single...
4: I want people to think we're legit... like for real.
And the last and most important reason... I want to feel like the rock star that I am.

Laugh. I know you want to. I'm feeling a career in stand up.

Sometimes thinking makes my head itch...

I've been hung up on something the speaker said at Agape. I don't remember his name, but he's almost always there each year. He started off his Saturday night talk with telling the audience about the miscarriage that his wife and him had this last week. Now I'm not quite sure why he told us that... First of all, he could have gotten his point across with out being so personal(I'm not sure that's the word I'm looking for... maybe I'm more looking for a phrase... how about "asking for pity"... or "trying to make us feel sorry for him"... I know he wasn't... but he was trying to get an emotional response out of us). Second, how does his wife feel about him telling us this?
Ok back to my thinking on this talk. He began to relate himself to how God feels about the church and His children. He said, "When God does an ultrasound of the church, does He find a heartbeat?" Now I know he was getting at how there are a lot of Christians who are not living life to the fullest or living following God.
I guess what I'm getting at is that I'm going to make sure that when God does His "ultrasound" that He's going to find a heartbeat wherever I'm at. I am going to beat for God. (And on a silly note, I'll be beating up whoever gets in my way also... beat... beating... ok nevermind).
Yeah my head keeps itching... and its not dandruff. :-)

A DCB to make for a fun night

If you have never seen the David Crowder Band in concert, well... you should. Oh my. It was the most crazy, wonderful, amazing experience. First of all, their music is just happy and good to begin with. I mean you can't go wrong with upbeat rockin' out music. Second, David Crowder played a key-tar. You know.... a keyboard that's on a strap, but sorta has a guitar neck and box-ee shape. It was bright green. So cool. They also played the Super Mario Bros theme song. That was cool. THEN... David Crowder grabs a Guitar Hero guitar and plays it. The drummer had upgraded it and it could actually make its own sounds. There was also the power up noise on there. Oh it was so cool. He kept referring to the band that played before them(which was Hawk Nelson) as Mr. Nelson. It was hilarious.
They're good in concert.

Now it was a concert, but the DCB writes a lot of the songs that are used in Contemporary Worship settings so there was a lot of worshiping God going on. That's cool, you know. I don't have a problem with going to a concert and worshiping God. I have a problem with the opposite... when I go to a worship service and it feels like a concert. And the focus is on the band, not God.

Still one more day of Agape left. Being exhausted and sore comes with the territory. At least I wasn't camping....

Outsourcing

I don't like it in any form. Business. Church. Anywhere.
It might be cheaper or easier to do, but why do it if you already have the resources to do it in house?
That's all.

"Oh honey, don't worry you'll find someone special someday"

I've heard this way too many times recently. I don't know how the conversations I've been in have led to this statement, but I don't like it.
Who says I need someone special? Am I not who I am by myself? Do I need someone to complete me? Heck no!!!! And no!!!! God was not thinking of someone else when He was making me.
I have so much freedom right now. Why would I give that up? Why would I want to give that up? I think that is the better question. I am responsible for myself and no one else and I like it that way.
I like who I am and that is all that matters.

And anywho... my special BASS came yesterday. Who needs a relationship when your bass has come? I like my quirks. :-)

Fish... sticks...

I don't know what my problem is and I hope this doesn't reflect on my ability to care for people in the future.
MY FISH KEEP EATING EACH OTHER!
This happened to me in September. Gabi kept chewing on Gus's fins. Gus eventually died and Gabi fed off his carcus for the next couple of weeks because I was mad that she ate him. Somehow Gabi lived way past my expectations. Well I bought Lumierre about a month ago and he and Gabi lived together for 5 days. Gabi was floating at the tank. I don't think she could handle being with some fish after being alone for so long. So the next day I went and bought Gypsy. Well Gypsy had some nibble marks but nothing major until this weekend. I'm pretty sure she is going to die soon. Her back fin is completely gone and she's having trouble swimming.
I feed my fish 2 times a day. I leave the light on. I use the water purifier. Why does domestic violence continue to occur?
If I can't keep my fish alive, how am I suppose to protect my family in the future? They'll just end up eating each other and then be hauled off to jail. Man, my future sounds bright.

Can you hear it?

Yes that's the sound of me shrieking with glee.

I bought a bass. Its a Luna Gypsy Pre Bass. I'm excited. I hope its all I've ever wanted in a bass.

I can't believe I just bought a bass. Seriously? It feels so unreal because I just clicked a mouse. I own a bass guitar. Seriously? Oh I can't wait until it comes. It will be like Christmas day.

If you couldn't tell, I'm really excited. It can only make me sound better because I know I can't sound any worse. :-)

Bass

Oh there is this bass that I want so badly. Its a Squier by Fender P something. I don't know, but its been what I've been looking at mostly due to the fact that its in my price range. Well... the champane colored one I want is on ebay. I've never done ebay before. The auction closes in 2 days. And I haven't bid yet. I will. Tomorrow night. I'm watching it. Seeing how high it will go. I'm hoping that it will stay within 20 dollars of its current asking price. If it had a buy me now option, I so would.
Now not that I don't enjoy Jake's bass, but its not mine. I want to be able to name my bass.
Ok I know... weird. My electric guitar is named Julius and my accoustic guitar is named Jasimine. I like to give personality to my instruments.
Oh I hope I do get that bass. :-)

The hardest part of breaking up...

The Bible study that I'm apart of broke up last night. Considering how flexible our schedules are, it was becoming particularly hard to find time to meet together or have time to complete the tasks each week to fully participate in Bible study. I know I was struggling to read through Isaiah, but I didn't come because of what we were studying. I enjoyed the fellowship. I don't hang out with very many people and outside of Bible study none my age.
I guess it didn't hit me last night, but I feel like my group of friends just broke up. I guess now I'll get to nap longer on Sunday afternoons.
Twentysomethings hang out with their own kind. Married couples, married couples with kids, and singles... they just don't have anything in common. How can they all expect to be friends? I love my friends who are in the first two groups and my fellow single twentysomethings. But its like I'm not in their club because I'm not married and I don't have kids. But I do come in handy as a babysitter once and awhile. Pu-leeze.
I'm not any less of a female by not being married or not having kids. I'm only 22. Give me a few years. I'm a young adult so that means I don't have it all figured out and if you think you do(because you have a spouse or are married), well you're wrong. None of us have it figured out hence why we should all be able to live in harmony together and love unconditionally.

And a rant for those who are engaged sending out date reminders--- those magnets are ridiculous. Waste of money. Flaunting that you're getting married is not becoming of you.

This post started out ok and then I lost it. I leave things pent up way too much. I need to release more often.

Amor

A veces, me siento amor por un amigo que yo he conocido por muchos anos. No lo entiendo usualmente y ojala que yo pueda decirle a el todo de mis sentamientos.
Y entonces salgo el mundo de suenos y regreso al mundo actual y guardo mis sentamientos a yo mismo.

Cynical

I work very hard to keep an upbeat attitude. Very hard. I have a tendency to become very critical which then makes me cynical. I don't think those are very wonderful attributes of myself so I try to protect others from them. If I know my opinion is safe with you, then maybe I'll explain why I'm frustrated with something. But usually I'm still trying to figure out exactly how I feel so I don't make much sense.
I do disagree with plenty of people. Do I always try to start an arguement just to get my opinion heard? No. Why? Because the arguements that I especially hate to get into are the ones with other people who tend to be cynical or over critical. Its a downward spiral for me.
Topics to avoid with me are: US Foreign Policy, Free Trade Agreements, Cuba, Politics, Close-minded opinions on any topic, Church divisions, "Their culture is wrong" thoughts, and there are more that is just to name a few.
I am fairly open minded and I like to hear others' thoughts. I like to be challenged by new ideas too. Reading is how I get most challenged. That way I can work out my thoughts on my own time.
Bye.

Fun

I have trouble doing things when they're not fun. Currently everything doesn't seem like fun so I don't want to do it. Everything is a "have to" not a "want to".
I think the fun left when spring forward happened. I hate moving my clock one hour ahead. It seriously messes with me.

How frustrating!

Ok maybe I'm not asking the right people, but I cannot get anyone to go with me to this amazing concert that I have free tickets to. I keep getting "I have to wash my hair" turn downs. Seriously. Am I really that undesirable to hang out with? My feelings are actually beginning to hurt on this one. I know I can just go by myself, but what fun is that? None. The concert isn't until Thursday, so I guess I'll just keep asking. I'm not desperate. Really.
How frustrating! You'd think even if these people didn't want to hang out with me that they'd at least want to come to the concert, no? I will be going to this concert. And I will enjoy every second of it. I'll even make posters proclaiming my love for every single band. Ok maybe not.

Bastante

I am insufficent. Good thing Jesus is enough. Because I'm a sucker without Him.
The only thoughts in my head tonight have to do with how I'm not ______ enough. Fill in the blank with whatever adjective you please.
Funny thing. So God is sufficent for everything. And I'm not, but I'm sufficent just enough for whatever God has in store for me.
Ok I feel a bit better, but I still wish I picked up things easier.
I also found out today that I am only a real person for 12 hours of everyday. After being alive for more than 12, I begin to deteriorate at an exponental rate. So I awoke at 8am, I became a real person at 8:30am and then after 8:30pm, I stop being a rational, loving, beautiful person. I mean I'm still "awake", but definitely not fully functioning. So I'm not a morning or night person, but I can only be a person for 12 hours.
Bastante por ahora... Tal vez voy a escribir mas manana.

Wheezing

It's another cold and nasty day. Wet too. Now not always do I put my mind to something and finish it, but I did today. Well actually... I decided last week that on Monday(today) I was going to take up running. I did go on a run... I made it 3 blocks at a decent pace before almost passing out. I then walked rest of the distance. I'm proud of myself just for the fact that I did what I set out to do. Run. And I did run. My goal distance of running was 2 blocks. I made it 3. Yay me! But it being a cold and nasty day makes for not so nice of a running day.
Tomorrow will be better weather for a run... Ok so there might be snow.

Pagan Christianity

It's a book. Not how I feel. I don't feel happy about the book. It talks about where all the traditions in Christianity of today started and why they are not biblical. Ok. I can handle that. But this book is so cynical. I understand what the authors(Barna and someone else) are getting at, but they sure take a negative spin on it. Of course, I'm only about half way through the book. They keep pointing out the problems and they haven't brought up any solutions. Times have changed since the New Testament was written. I don't think that Jesus died and expected us to just remain the same in how we practice our faith. The writers mention something about the use of visual appeal in church buildings. First of all, we shouldn't have church buildings, but second of all, they make the arguement that art shouldn't be used. I'm pretty sure that God gave us gifts and talents in order to serve Him and worship Him better. And using those gifts to stimulate worship and an atmosphere in a building where the body of Christ meets doesn't seem like such a bad thing. Maybe I'm totally off base. I am hoping that they produce some solutions to making current Christianity what it was supposed to be(?). I mean how do we know that what they did back in the NT is what God wanted them/us to do forever? If any of the "Christian things" were doing are not edifying God, then of course we should stop. Does God really care where we meet? As long as we're authentic, I don't think it should matter.
I'm probably just a pagan anyway. But God is the judge. Not some authors.
If it's not for Jesus, why do it?

Practice makes perfect... or so I'm told

Tonight was my first practice with the band. I don't even know how quite to describe it. All I know is that my shoulder hurts from where the strap crossed it. That bass is heavy. I think I caught on pretty fast to what we were playing. I didn't get the music until this morning and I was practically on my way out the door when I got it too. I knew I wouldn't be home all day so I quickly printed the songs. Those songs were only half of what I was supposed to have. I felt like 5 blocks behind the rest of the band tonight. I know it was only my first practice, but I hate to let people down. I don't know what they were expecting. Maybe I can surprise them next week by being totally on top of things. Or just make another complete fool out of myself. LOL. I need to be able to keep that bass on my shoulder for 2 hours straight. I guess I won't put it on until I absolutely have to.
Hopefully next week will go better...

B things

Today is sponsered by the letter B.
Yesterday there was a bat in my house. What was more scary is that the bat had been in our house before and never had left. I'm pretty sure he was hiding out in our basement, which is very very scary because I've been down there plenty of times and I don't like bats. See, I discovered the bat first. It happened like 3 weeks ago and it flew at my head. I closed the doors to the kitchen and hid out there until my family got home. I was so scared. So the bat is back. Has it left yet? Nope. I hope that I never run into it when I am home alone. I will cry like a baby if it does.
I started learning how to play bass on Sunday. I haven't decided how I feel about it yet. I mean its cool, but at the same time pretty unreal. The only reason I am learning bass is because I was asked to be in a band that needs a bass player. I've never played bass. They invited me even before they heard me play bass. They have faith in me... faith that I don't have yet. I mean I'm not awful, but not band worthy yet.
So if you have any suggestions on how to get rid of a bat or how to become a better bass player, please let me know. And you're always welcome to laugh at my posts. I'm ok with that. But seriously, if you have any miracle things that rid bats and make the unmusical professional musicians... please let me know. Thanks!

Affirmation

My life has purpose. I know that. Sometimes I just need to say it out loud. I live a fairly uncomplicated life and I'm ok with that.
I'm good at telling stories about my life. I think they're best told in person. I'm definitely not boring.
I've lived with indigenious islanders. I've camped in the snow at the Grand Canyon.
I like to be myself.