sitting in a small, outdated but somewhat vintage theatre with hundred of people all around all watching one woman as she stood on stage with a microphone and a guitar…..this is how an amazing concert started and ended with that very same audience all singing (quite well I might add)….”Hey Jude”
Let me fill in the blanks for you.
I was invited to a concert, a concert of a group that I had never heard of before, “Fiction Family” which I later found out was a group made up of Jon Foreman (the lead singer of a band called “switchfoot” and Shawn Watkins (the lead singer of a band called Nickelcreek. The concert was opened by a woman named Molly Jenson (she was the lady in the beginning of this blog)
Anyways I was almost gonna bail on the whole concert because it was a long, boring day at work…my shoulder was killing me (i did something to it awhile ago and it has gotten progressively worse, especially from working in my current job) and I was a bit tired. I text messaged my friend early in the afternoon to let him know I may not make it, which ended after a few text messages in “Maybe I won’t be your friend if you don’t come”…well gee…although I was almost certain that he was kidding I figured what the heck if he is gonna resort to jeopardizing our friendship..i should probably go, I mean hey I might have fun, right?
So after driving the unbelievably long trek home, hopping in the shower and putting nice clean clothes on, I got back in my car, picked up some burgers on the way (so much for eating healthy), ate the burgers and pulled into the parking lot of Cascade College where I was supposed to meet my other friends who were going.
I was one of the first to arrive, so we waited about 10 minutes (i think we waited for matt, the friend that said he wouldn’t be my friend hadn’t I had come)…and made our way to the “Aladdin Theater” .
As we pulled up the the theater a long line wrapped around he building, “Great” I thought since I hadn’t bothered to grab a coat but luckily by the time we found a parking spot and walked to the line, it had dwindled down a bit and we only had to wait a few minutes before getting inside.
Once inside, we talked a bit…looked for people we knew and waited. Once the concert started, it was amazing…acoustic guitars, drums, a bass and a fiddle…oh yeah and a banjo made up the instruments played. They sang mostly songs I had never heard before but loved, had a great time laughing and watching the people around me. Loved it when a band memeber forgot what they were doing or said something funny on stage.
the last song was preceded with the lead singer saying “ok this is our last song for the night, unless however after we are done we hear a chorus of “Hey Jude” then we might play more”….the song ended, they walked off stage then without hesitation the crowd broke out in “Hey Jude, don’t make it bad, take a sad song and make it better…..” The band came back on stage finished “Hey Jude” with us and then sang 2 or 3 more songs…it was awesome.
Anyways needless to say I had a great night. 
This year I decided to eat a little healthier, it’s not really a “resolution” but more of a choice to do something for myself. I’ve eaten a lot of crap over the years and figure it’s probably time to eat better and take care of myself. I’m not doing this as an image thing or to lose weight, just to be healthy. I’m told that eating bad can lead to heart disease, stoke, diabetes and more.
So far it hasn’t been too rough…I havent completely changed my eating habits, but really changed my choices on how much I eat and what I eat. I eat less fast food, eat more balanced meals, and trying really hard to eat more fruits and vegetables. I’ve tried to give up pop and lasted about a month but couldn’t go much longer than that….right now my fridge is stocked pretty well with it (that is my one weakness). Anyways above is two pictures…one is of food that i typically bought when shopping and the other is food i recently bought when picking up a few things at the grocery store. A lot different, and seems to cost a lot more money but i’m sure it will be worth it. Lately my thing has been fruit smoothies…..i just got a blender for Christmas and LOVE it!!! it makes the best smoothies ever. I’ll keep ya updated on how well this new thing is going for me. Oh yeah and below is an example of my current shopping list.
SHOPPING LIST
Chicken
Ground Beef
Frozen Strawberries
Frozen Blueberries
Pineapple
Bananas
Cauliflower (<——I’ve never actually eaten this)
Flax seed Meal (<—–I don’t even know what this is but a recipe i have calls for it, sounds kinda gross)
Mozzarella cheese
Sweet Potato
Soy Sauce
Creamer (<—-Oh yeah also gotta have my coffee every morning, another weakness)
Olive Oil
Ok so I usually don’t make New Year’s resolutions…because I think they are basically stupid goals that people set and never really plan to keep, they are goals that if you don’t achieve them you are discouraged for a few days and then are like “Whatever” and go on your merry way….right?
Well this year I decided to make a few new years resolutions, not necessarily because there are SO many things I want to change about my life…but more because I want to do these things for ME….to make me a better person, to make me a little more interesting, and to make me happier.
So here goes….some of these things are from a list I made many months ago and still haven’t completely achieved them. They are in no particular order.
*Learn to play guitar….just the basics (i think most anything can be done after that)
*Spend more time with friends
*Do more NEW things, visit new places.
*Eat healthier (I’ve tried this one many times and failed, so far I’m doing well, I’m also exercising more which means basically I’m always hungry cuz my metabolism is boosted like CRAZY).
*Go to concerts of artists I like
*Go Snowboarding (At least once this season)
*Go Camping
*Try a food I’ve never tried before (This is an easy one since there are a lot of foods I have never eaten, my new food of last year was lengua, which for those of you who don’t speak spanish means “Tongue”)
*Go to more museums and classical concerts (I know…can ya really see me doing this??? Maybe not but both really interest me)
I Think that’s about it. I think all are realistic goals. SOmething that will bring a little something extra to my life, allow me to have a little fun and enjoy myself. Last year was a crazy year full of moving, and watching my bes friend get married, losing my job, making new friends….one of the most interesting and hardest years of my life, but I wouldn’t have traded it for anything.
I was online today, kinda just messing around, when I opened up a bulletin on myspace posted by a friend. It was titled “If you want me to”, it came at the most perfect time for me. I opened it up and read the words, the words to a song, as I read I felt like someone jumped into my mind and wrote exactly what I was feeling. It was a great and amazing reminder that I am not alone.
Let me back up and explain a little more, so in the last few months I was laid off from the job I have had for the past 4 years, I actually didn’t mind much because I thought that there was an amazing opportunity waiting for me in another job, I found out I was wrong. Upon finding this out I was hopeful that I would receive another job at a church but then just yesterday I found out that I was denied that job. With my heart heavy and weary I began to ask, why? Why was all this happening? At a time where I have turned to God more than I have in a long time, why did I feel lik eHe was so far from me? Why did I begin to doubt that He really does have something BETTER for me? Why can I give all of me to Him (even though it is not much) and still feel like this? …That’s where the myspace post came into play, the post was about the fact that although the pathway before us may be broken and that although we may be unsure of what lies ahead, He asks us to keep going forward, through the struggles and trials because it will bring us closer to Him and closer to His plan for us. He never promises that we WON’T go through these struggles or that it will be easy but He does promise us that we won’t be alone.
So on that I will continue through this, and rely completely on Christ who endured it all for me, who is there by my side in all this. He knows he desires of my heart, He knows what I need and don’t need and with His help I will be okay…I am in a time of refinement and in the end I will be closer to Him because of all this.
BTW if you want to see the lyrics to the song that was posted, here you go.
If You Want Me To
The pathway is broken
And The signs are unclear
And I don’t know the reason why You brought me here
But just because You love me the way that You do
I’m gonna walk through the valley
If You want me to
Cause I’m not who I was
When I took my first step
And I’m clinging to the promise You’re not through with me yet
so if all of these trials bring me closer to you
Then I will walk through the fire
If You want me to
It may not be the way I would have chosen
When you lead me through a world that’s not my home
But You never said it would be easy
You only said I’d never go alone
So When the whole world turns against me
And I’m all by myself
And I can’t hear You answer my cries for help
I’ll remember the suffering that Your love put You through
And I walk through the valley If You want me to
I went for a walk today around the neighborhood. Figured it would be fun and a little bit of an adventure with all the snow and ice. Kids were out, running and playing, pulling their sleds behind them. I passed a sad looking snowman with a pathetic little face, and skinny little twig arms (actuallyI think it may have had only one arms,, not really sure.) I passed by people taking pictures of their kids (precious photo opt. moment). It was pretty cold outside but it was a fun little walk…ended up getting some coffee and saying “hi” to some friends. Here are some pics that I took along the way
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Ok so I pretty much finished decorating my apt. which wasn’t the easiest task, not because I had a lot to decorate but because I’m kinda a perfectionist and also very impatient. The two do not go well together. I did my best though and well this was the end result. Not the best in the world but it works, neat and organized yet simple.
the christmas ornaments on the tops of the cupboards was all I did in the kitchen.
So I started my day with a nice hot cup of coffee. I made it at home since, well money is in short supply at the moment. After coffee, I got ready and headed to work. The drive isn’t that bad, even though it’s kinda far…I’m kinda thankful that I have the time because like today it gave me time to have a little chat with God. I think it was a great start to my day, everything after that was good (not great but good). we had a Christmas lunch at work, so that was fun. Worked 8.5 hours, which is very good since my first check wasn’t much….All in all I am thankful for my day, which is unexcpected and much appreciated after some of the sucky days I have had. Hope tomorrow is just as good.
today has been super lazy for me, usually on Sundays I wake up fairly early and get ready for church, go to lunch with friends and then hang out. Today, well today none of that happened. I woke up, but not early, said goodbye to my best friends (who were visiting for the weekend), popped in a movie (JUNO, one of my favorites) and lounged on the couch, till i got hungry, then threw some taquitos in the over and waited for the timer to go off, pulled them out o the oven and enjoyed them. That is ALL i have done all day today.I really should be getting ready, showered, made presentable to go to a funeral in a couple of hours then I have plans for dinner with some friends and then????
So to make this blog somewhat productive, I figure I’ll make a list. I like lists because they organize my thoughts.
This list will be….hmmm….what should it be????
my favorite movies??? No…too hard since I have so many…
maybe ok I’ll be unspecific and go with “my favorite things”…very broad I know…and although it’s kinda like that song from “Sound of Music” please don’t think of that or hum it while you read my list, I HATE that song (Sorry if it’s your favorite)
Favorite things….
The smell of when it rains for the first time in a long time.
Camping
Snowboarding
Campfires
Painting
The beach
Hanging out with friends
Coffee
Deep Fried Ice Cream
Strawberries
Sitting in front of a crackling fire
The smell of Christmas
Fall
Snow
Road Trips
Hot Cocoa
Boardwalks
Music
Ok this list could go on forever…so i’m gonna stop….there’s no real purpose to a list like this except for me to share my favorite things….make you think of your favorite things and smile.
upon my search for a new job I am finding that it is incredibly hard to get the job that I want without a bachelor’s degree. Without the degree the only jobs I can find seem to be ones that in the end I will get bored with and hate. I have a good amount of experience but experience means nothing on paper. A few people have suggested to me to go back to school, which is an idea I would jump on except for the fact that I HATE school. I Hate school not because I suck at it, I’m actually am pretty good in school, I just tend to get bored easily with it. Also I already have some student loans that I’m paying back and I don’t really want to add to that debt. If i do go back to school I’d get my Bachelor of Arts degree, which if i went full time I could do in two years. I did some research and found that Marylhurst university in Orgeon has an excellent arts program but would cost me about $20,000 a year. So I guess I’m asking for imput, do you think I should go back to school? If so why? If not, why? Also any ideas on good schools in this area besides Marylhurst? I’m also willing to accept suggestions on schools outside of this area. This would be a HUGE suggestion for me, so any help I can get would be much appreciated.
So it’s like 1am and I’m sitting here on my couch, thinking…thinking about life. What is ahead of me? Why am I where I am? I keep asking the “Why’s” and “What’s” and not getting many answers. The more I ask these questions the more I begin to understand that none of it matters. I mean yeah how you use your one life matters and the choices you make matter BUT in the end the things we think are huge, the things that we worry and stress about are pretty unsignificant in the BIG picture. I can make choices, like to move or to go to school and although those are big choices, God will use me in HIS own way…and maybe those choices will come into play or maybe they won’t….I’m not saying, stop making decisions, just let God do His thing, because well that’s not what He wants. But instead seek God in you decisions, listen to where He wants you to go or what He wants you to do and I think in the end you will be used more efficiently and you will be happier.
Anyways like I said, just thinking out loud, probably more rambling than anything but seriously I ramble a lot. Sometimes that’s what it takes for me to process things, you just got to experience my ramblings first hand ok enough rambling for me…I’m tired. Peace Out.
