Bath and Body Works

I recently received coupon emails from Bath and Body works advertising their latest scents. After I saw the two new smells, I had to chuckle.

I could almost picture the board meeting, headed by an ambitious blonde in a pantsuit...

"Everyone's crazy about Twilight! We need to make our products more twilight!"

And then they came up with "Dark Kiss" and "Twilight Woods"

Of course, I still went to get my free bottle of lotion. I chose one that had a pleasant, slightly familiar smell. It was only after I got home, that I realized the familiar part of the smell was that of dentist fluoride.

Labor Day!

For Labor Day weekend, Tim, Jon, Hannah and I all drove to Arkansas to visit Cousin Charles!

We went hiking, went to the lake, played mini-golf (twice!), went to several parks, visited Charles's dorm room, tried to find him a wife, and bought and modified nerf guns!

While on a hike, Jon and Hannah stop to advertize College T-shirts with a student-y pose!


At Gator Golf, Hannah and I stopped to ride a zebra!!

Tim interrupts some strangers' game to pose and shout, "I'm on a zebra! ...Huah!"

And of course, my favorite photo happened when we got lost on the way to church. Charles took a turn onto "Best Friend Lane" to pull over and call his parents.

I was going to "enhance" this photograph the way most teenage girls do, and add a caption from this video, but without the guys' permission, I hesitated.

Dining Out

Last Saturday was the Air National Guard's Dining out at the Hyatt.
Months ago, Tim bought us some tickets. The hotel offered a discounted room price for the airmen, so we decided to make an evening of it.

Formal attire was required, so I wore a black evening gown a lady at church gave me. Tim was required to wear his Blues a certain way. Some of the older men (especially those higher up in the guard) had snazzy "mess dress" covered in metals and ribbons.

At the mixer, I was able to meet some of those "snazzy" older men who were Tim's supervisors. I shook hands with a lot of people, received some charming compliments, smiled a lot, and forgot a million names.

We met up with the Colliates, a couple from our church, and all decided to get our portraits taken before the dinner since I forgot my camera, and the hall was crowded, and we weren't buying drinks. (While in line, I recognized a couple from Halstead. I couldn't remember their names, but I'm sure they would know Eden or Dale, or even Paul.) Tim and I were excited to find that the two background options for the photos were extremely cheesy! We chose the blue-swirly background with a fake, wrought-iron fence, a wooden chest stacked with fake books in front of us, with an American flag off to the side. When we get the pictures in the mail, I'll be sure to post them.

The dinner itself reminded me somewhat of the Feast our school used to have. It took place in a huge ballroom, and there were over 500 guests. Over salad, we watched traditional ceremonies and then made several toasts. We were entertained by the banter of two officials on opposite sides of the room with microphones. They explained a strict, silly set of dining rules, and then explained the consequences.

A giant jayhawk-shaped drink dispenser was wheeled to one end of the room. Various people got reported for breaking rules, and each had to follow a silly procedure while toasting with the bird's drink. No one was allowed to clap, but we were given spoons which we used to bang on the table to show approval. Clapping would get you sent to the bird, or "Grog" as they called it. Other offenses I noticed that night were: bringing alcohol from the mixer into the ballroom, bringing in the hat with the uniform, leaving the room (even to go to the bathroom) and wearing the wrong ribbons. Only airmen went to the Grog, and higher officials at that. The only exception was a confused girl who was called up for no reason. Her boyfriend then got a mike and proposed to her. She looked truly surprised, which I found refreshing, and everyone was so excited, a few people even started clapping...

The silliness ended when dinner was served. Waiters squeezed around the tables with huge trays, and everyone chatted over grilled chicken and steak. I whispered in Tim's ear which silverware to use when, and he reminded me who people were, and that I had some food on my face. When I cleaned my plate and it got whisked away, I traded my apple-pie cake for Tim's dessert, which had sat on its fancy plate the whole meal. It was possibly the richest and tastiest chocolate cake I had ever had!

A speaker gave us a talk about the economy for a while, while I watched a few tables over where a slightly tipsy woman grow greener and greener till a few gentlemen escorted her out. Her eyes were big, and her cheeks were puffed out as she held her fist against her mouth. I wondered whether or not she threw up in the hall while I heard about China's quest for African resources.

Soon, the chaplain came and gave his benediction, and then the dance floor was opened, playing music for slow dancing, swing dancing, and jazzy dancing. The lights were dimmed and tables emptied as everyone got up to visit. Our evening ended overlooking Wichita from our 11th floor hotel room with a McDonald's drink and a good book.

Support your Local Dishwasher

I will be writing about my Labor Day weekend... and The Move, but I'd like to interrupt those posts with a small thing:

While washing a pancake pan, I quickly grabbed the dishsoap bottle and made a small squirt across its animal-shaped pancake molds.

I had to stop for a second because the basic shape looked familiar. I finally realized that it was blood! Not the color of blood, or even the shape blood would make if it happened to drip on a pan, but it was the same shape of the fake blood splatter on the jail cell floor in Support Your Local Sheriff!

Joe Danby: You expect me to sit here in this lousy cell on that...
What is that red stuff all over the floor there?
Jason McCullough: Oh, uh... [waves his boot over the paint] ...that's the poor fella that crossed the line earlier today.

Memories

I Interviewed at Park Elementary today...
I didn't get to talk with the principal because she was busy addressing a behavior problem with a victim and his parent in her office.

The secretaries were kind, and excited that I told them I had attended Park for a year. They informed me that my kindergarten teacher was still there, teaching first grade.

As the door to the principal's office swung open, I could catch part of the conversation. "Who bit you? Was it Joseph with white skin and blonde hair, or was it YOseph?"

It must've been the later because a chubby Mexican boy walked in to sulk in the corner. I glanced at the kid and gave him the smallest of sympathetic smiles because it was all too familiar of a situation...

"Who bit you? Was it Grace with white skin and curly hair, or was it Graciella?"
...only in my case, it was the former

Trade Secrets

While visiting my family the other day, I mentioned to my mother that perhaps twelve hours was too few. She said,

"Well, Tim's going to be really busy, and when your husband is busier, you get busier so you just have to..."

Joel walked into the room and remarked, "Oooh! letting me in on the trade secrets, eh?!"



Speaking of trade secrets, I've been reading a book lately. It isn't a fun read, but I'm glad I'm doing it. It covers a subject I've been trying to figure out on my own for the past year or so. I feel that it's put my thoughts into words, and has given me more situations and opportunities to apply it to.

The book is called Love and Respect and it does a fairly good job of summing up the main problem in male/female communication (while admitting it probably isn't the ONLY problem).



It states that women need to feel loved most of all, an obvious need that's no surprise. It says that men need to feel respected above all else. I feel I would have to disagree with the choice of the word "respect" but the author is right. Men feel loved by feeling valued as a person, and trusted to do the right thing in a situation.

Most problems are centered around men doing things that women percieve as unloving, and women doing things that men percieve as disrespectful. Basically, each gender needs to think about what they are doing that could be offensive, and work it out with two big scoops of understanding!

End-O-Summer Thoughts and Quotes

Heat, ma'am! it was so dreadful here, that I found there was nothing left for it but to take off my flesh and sit in my bones. ~Sydney Smith, Lady Holland's Memoir

• The wedding was great! I was very pleased with how everything turned out. One guest is said to have remarked, "This feels just like a movie! And you know what? We're all in it!"

If a June night could talk, it would probably boast it invented romance. ~Bern Williams

• I gained some cool new silver-soldering skills working at Mathew's Gallery in Wichita! It's been great to work alongside new Christian friends.


• Actually visiting parents and inlaws is a new experience for me! It's a little strange, but I like it!


• Tim must be a family man now because he "...traded in his Mustang for a minivan (actually a Volkswagon Jetta with 4 doors)" I'd like to point out that it was Tim's idea originally. We both are happy with its practicality... and the fact that it could kick the Mustang's butt in a race anyday!

Whatever was required to be done, the Circumlocution Office was beforehand with all the public departments in the art of perceiving--HOW NOT TO DO IT.

~Dickens, Little Dorrit

• I've been fighting my way through the bureaucracy of name-changing in 100 degree weather. After driving all the way downtown and parking in a 75 cent parking garage (I'd like to mention that since it was my third time there, I finally figured out where to park!) ...and after getting through the Wichita Courthouse's metal detectors (this time without my pocketknife) I was told that the social security department isn't in the courthouse, but in an office back on the other side of town... When I finally got there, after driving a few loops, (first missing the street, then the building) I was told to take a number and sit down. I sat down, dazed, among a 50-person crowded waiting room. Needless to say, it was a 50 minute wait.

Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it. ~Russel Baker

• School is about to start! Tim is returning to Butler to get a degree, while I am transfering to WSU. Things will be a little crazy for a while. Tim is currently working 2nd shift while I work first. When school starts, he'll be a full time student and work full time (tee-hee! I accidentally typed "Wok full time" ...man, I wish!) In October, we'll switch things up a bit when Tim has to work 3rd shift. We're praying that that will work out okay with minimal stress!

Then followed that beautiful season... Summer....Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscapeLay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Wedding Preparations!

I love to make things. I love the little details when it comes to party planning. I like certain things to happen my way. This leads to me doing a lot of things by hand for my wedding. (Of course, I have to mention my awesome mother who has been doing a LOT of work in the other areas!)
First, I put together my bouquet:
Then, Tim's boutonniere:Then lots of others!!
And a flower-girl basket!
I did NOT make each flower by hand... These were decorations from a storefront! I just had to re-string them!
the start of a cake topper
Finally, my friends, we have some jewelry wax. I used this to form a ring for Tim. Which we then used to make a mold out of investment and a vacuum machine, and finally we poured in some gold! I don't have a picture of Timmy's ring yet... I'll leave that up to your imagination!

Some people may not enjoy getting wrapped up in the details of wedding planning... Some people may not enjoy weddings period!
(Heh... I love that I ended that sentence without a period.)

Jono Saves the Day!!!

I found my old Bible the other day, while looking for one small enough to carry in my purse.
Inside, I found a picture that my friend Joel had made for me.
He was obviously enamored of his soon-to-be brother in law.
You can see that Jono, with muscular cotton-candy limbs, has just lifted up a semi to block some huts from the coming rock slide/volcano. One unfortunate guy (with twiggy arms, I might add) stands doomed in the shadow of an escaped boulder!

Just Something

This is a part from "Crazy Love" a book we're going through in one of my Bible Studies:

The love for equals is a human thing-- of friend for friend, brother for brother. It is to love what is loving and lovely. The world smiles.
The Love for the less fortunate is a beautiful thing-- the love for those who suffer, for those whoare poor, the sick, the failures, the unlovely. This is compassion, and it touches the heart of the world.
The love for the more fortunate is a rare thing-- to love those who succeed where we fail, to rejoice without envy with those who rejoice, the love of the poor for the rich, of the black man for the white man. The world is always bewlidered by its saints.
And then there is the love for the enemy-- love for the one who does not loev you but mocks, threatens, and inflicts pain. The tortured's love for the torturer. This is God's love. It conquers the world.

How it went down

Just so you know, I gave my Bible to my friend. He was touched because he understood how much it meant to me, but, of course, he doesn't plan on "getting all into that stuff."
I didn't care. I wasn't expecting a "What must I do to be saved?!" moment or anything. I only knew that this was my best shot at expressing my concern for him, and at the same time, the importance of my God in my life. How could I expect his reaction to be much different from my own when I received that same Bible?
I was, however, very satisfied with what happened. He seemed a little intrigued, wanted to give it back when he found out what it was to me, then finally accepted it, realizing that it was something special.
I'm satisfied.
God will do what He wants now, and I will wait.

My Bible

This is sort of a response to my mom's recent blog post about Bibles.

The Bible

I learned to read in Kindergarten. I was pretty proud of myself for accomplishing something before any of my classmates did. I distinctly remember visiting my great grandma afterwards, and feeling that pride swell up inside me as my parents told her. “Grace learned to read this week!” my dad shouted into her hearing aid. “What?” she asked. “GRACE LEARNED TO READ!!” With that, she nodded and turned to her bookshelf. “Read this.” she said, as she pulled out a little Bible. Then, with a very shaky hand, she filled out the “Presented to” page. (afterwards, I wrote “when I learned to read” in the “occasion” blank with a childish scrawl and a gold gel pen.)

There was nothing special about that Bible. It was your typical cheap maroon book with “Holy Bible” stamped on the front in gold letters. The gold on the side of the pages had begun to wear off, completely gone now, and there was a strange green-ish stain on the side. There was nothing special about the appearance of the book, but it was special to me. It was a free gift, and it was mine! I felt honored that my great grandmother would give me something of my very own. Nevertheless, I put it in my room, by my bed and never read it for years.

My sparkly Adventure Bible came with me to church every week and to summer camp, where I got saved. I learned to improve my reading skills, but I still didn’t read the Bible. My life didn’t change much. I began to doubt my salvation in steadily increasing amounts. As the Holy Spirit’s prompting grew, I stayed awake at night, when I didn’t have distractions, thinking about God and hell. I wondered if God was even real… then I panicked with the thought that maybe He was real, and I was going to go to hell because I didn’t think He was! One night when I was 12, I was so scared, that I turned on my lamp, and picked up that old Bible to read a passage. It was a pretty random passage, Acts 1, I think, but it comforted me. Although it was an ordinary passage, it came with the promise of Christ’s return, directed to me personally! This was the first time I experienced the Bible as “living and active.” Given no time to contemplate it, though, all I knew was that things got better when I read the Bible.

Thus began my nightly devotions. As I started to see that God is very real and willing to know me on a personal level, the old Bible’s sentimental value began to grow. I still had other Bibles I used for taking to church and camp, or some left upstairs for family devotions, but this one was the perfect size for reading by myself. It makes sense, then, that every small epiphany I had in my faith happened while reading that Bible.

The plan

I have made a good friend at school since my very first art class at Butler. He’s always been in most of my art classes, and we have had lots of chances to talk. Spiritual conversation is not typically easy to bring up, but I managed, and it wasn’t awkward at all. God put him on my heart, and I had been praying for his salvation. For once in my life I felt really comfortable talking about my beliefs to someone. The conversations we had were never much, but I know what he believes, that he’s confused, and that he knows where I stand. He knows that I have to be concerned for him because this is real, whether or not he thinks it is.

I’m ready to make it uncomfortable again.

I realized suddenly last Thursday that I need to give him my Bible. It has to be my special Bible; no other one would have the same meaning. It only makes sense that I share. He never would have known how great vanilla crème cookies from the vending machine were unless I shared with him. I did, and now he knows that they’re great. Jesus is great too. Why not share?

It has been harder than I thought. I cried a lot after I decided to give my Bible away. It’s one of my top three prized possessions, and I had planned to carry it with my bouquet down the aisle next June. I don’t own another soft, small Bible, and it will be missed. It wasn’t a big deal when I received it, but years later it became important to me. Maybe it could be that for someone else.

Pray for this.

Thanks!

Ho Malone III

It was the story of ONE BLOG.... (music begins)




then... ANOTHER blog went TOO far!! (music gets intense)





Then... a final blog decided to go where NO BLOG has gone BEFORE!

...not really

...It decided to push an old joke EVEN further!!!



This SPRING... Join Grace Page as she is...


HOME ALONE!

I was at the Duncan's yesterday for lunch, and my aunt and uncle had to meet some people somewhere. They suddenly left five young people around the table, home alone. "Butt! Butt! Fart!" someone yelled mischievously! Then Sarah got up and flicked the lights on and off with a huge grin on her face.
On another note, my mother worked very hard to re-varnish our kitchen floor! (Don't worry, mom! I didn't leave that footprint I thought I did!) Yesterday I wore socks, and in the one step it takes on the kitchen floor to get from the carpet to the bathroom, I almost fell. I guess it's easy to underestimate the varnish-y-ness! I then tried to purposely ice skate, and found myself inches from hitting my head on our "very rugged" chandelier! I guess it's a lot lower than it seems when hanging above a dining room table!

Kid's are SO Dumb!! (Mr. Cosby words it better.)

If observing at various schools for my Intro to Teaching class has taught me anything, it's that I should write a book titled "Do you like me? Circle yes or no" and it could be full of random things I've heard in schools.

For example: today I was called "The Magic Lady in Black" by a junior high boy.

Another time, I walked into the 1st grade music room to see an exasperated teacher squatting behind a podium, looking for something. She was so burnt-out, that she didn't even notice (or pay attention to) the cries of the other students when one particularly chubby girl was shaking her backside while standing on her desk.

While grading 3rd grade worksheets, I found one that said in the name blank:
"Name: K-STATE K-STATE"

A Dream in Three Parts, by Grace

I slept really hard last night with lots of crazy dreams... And I mean, REALLY crazy. So I feel really refreshed despite all the adventures I had...

First, I was racing along on a broomstick with two other people. There were other broomsticks around us. I decided I should try to witness to the people with me. They seemed interested, but I couldn't get through the gospel before we landed suddenly at our destination: a corrupt school/town, where everyone was becoming sin zombies!! Their skin was beginning to fall off according to how bad they were. The leader was this tall woman who had no outer layer of skin. Her veins were very much still there, holding together a white layer of flesh to cover her organs and muscles. She had no eyelids and she had a high ponytail of veins on her head.

Then this girl and I were running from this woman in my mother's second-hand store, trying to push bookshelves and clothing racks on top of us to keep her from being able to reach us. After a bookshelf trapped her legs, she used up her last effort to reach us with her arms, which were made of twisted veins. In our only method of defense, we began to untwist her arms so she couldn't use them. She died... or so we thought. Suddenly, she wiggled all her veins at us, and then died for real.

Act II: I was wandering around the old main street buildings in Halstead, looking for a bathroom. It ended up turning into a cowtown-like maze, and I kept wandering through empty and forgotten wild west hotel rooms until I finally found the bathroom which had an old fashioned toilet. Then I ran into an old friend who was with her boyfriend and his buddies who had discovered the place and were living in there. We talked for a while, but I felt like I was intruding, so I moved on to Act III...

I walked into my parents' church for the wedding rehearsal, only to find two extra bridesmaids: one I didn't recognize, and Emma, a teammate from cross country. My bridesmaids had appointed Emma as the Maid of Honor and the wedding coordinator boss. She began telling everyone how the ceremony would go down, and I was happy that someone was there to take charge on the day, but everything was really weird, besides the fact that there were seven bridesmaids and five groomsmen.
A wedding had taken place a week before, and the sancuary was full of rather strange furniture, but it matched my colors, so we left the strange couches and chairs there. Tim was supposed to stand a step lower than me, but then he got down on one knee, so in order to kiss him, I had to double over to reach him. I put my foot down at that idea, and suggested that we switch places. Then everyone sitting in the pews began to discuss whether wedding ceremony kisses were gross or cute.

Then I woke up.