Breaking News: Gus Gus Dies Slowly in Near-Fatal Mousetrap Murder

SAYONARA, SUCKA!
Let me tell you the gruesome tale of Gus Gus's tragic end. (Warning - not for the faint of heart.) Last night I am sitting in bed when I hear it - the sound I have been dreading - the SNAP of the TRAP which is within eyeshot of my bed. I look over - and there is Gus Gus. But no - it would have been too simple for it to end there. He was only INJURED in the trap - and not even stuck in it. So I scream (naturally) and call (on the phone) Susan - who is upstairs and who I am hoping is not asleep. She gets out of bed and comes down... we both panic and try to get him but all the while we're freaking out - and he kind of hobbles away (they're quick even when they're injured.) We chased him until he ran under the dryer - FOILED AGAIN! My hope was that his injuries would be too severe to last very much longer. We went to bed. (Mind you, hours later - I was horrified.)
This morning, I walk out of my room into the basement and THERE HE IS - breathing his last in the middle of the floor. HO-LY CRAP. And now, clearly I am alone with no moral support - I panic (shocking) and trap him under a pot we had on the table, and call Mom. Gory details spared, I stepped up to the plate, got the little piece of crap in a bag, tied it, and ran the fastest I have ever run (ever) to the dumpster.

Rest in peace, you little terror. I certainly will.

a Breckenridge Bachelorette!

we started the party with a Mamma Mia singalong...
we went out for a while in Breckenridge...

and it only made sense to end with Mamma Mia too. (dancing queen, obviously) that girl in the brown is the bachelorette herself - Sarah Kincheloe!

my talented roommates:
needless to say... a fun time was had by all.

#397. Feeling too small for God.

So, I read this other blog called "Stuff Christians Like," and this was on there a while back and today it is just what I needed to hear. Enjoy:

"The world is pretty big. There are a lot of countries, with millions and millions of square miles of people and land and ocean. The universe is even bigger than that. I’ve never been but from the photos I’ve seen it’s massive. Pathways of stars, belts of black holes and galaxies and planets. It’s just endless, and somewhere up there, God knows your boyfriend broke up with you.

Maybe He doesn’t. I mean, maybe He’s up there and He’s working on really big stuff. He’s healing famines and trying to bring peace to war torn lands. The greatness of His issues makes your little issues look ordinary and simple and maybe even boring.

But every now and then I come across a verse that shakes my deep belief that I am beneath God’s radar. One that I love is Psalm 56:8. Here, in what hopefully makes me look pretty smart, is the King James Version:

“Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?”

But maybe you’re not old school, so here’s what the New Living Translation says:

“You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.”

I think that’s beautiful. Can you imagine that? Can you picture God doing that? Taking His giant hands and tenderly picking up every single one of your tears? Knowing why they came, understanding what they mean, placing them in His bottle, so that He can comfort you.

That’s how God spends his days.

That’s how small this big universe is."

[click the title of this post to be sent to actual blog. beautiful!]

I'll alert the media.

I feel the need to tell all of you that Fall is here - my favorite season of all - which also means these things: that the pumpkin spice latte (and really lets be honest - I get excited about all things pumpkin flavored) is at Starbucks (and thank you to Amie for alerting me via text... that was a beautiful thing to wake up to... and also I'll call you back soon, promise) and, more importantly, that I have dark and vampy nails once again! This beautiful dark purple that I purchased at Ulta.
Fingers and toes. Sorry Mom.

FYI: I download music from this great site called MP3 Fiesta - you pay as little as $20 up front, and then songs are 20 cents, as opposed to the 99 on Itunes... it doesn't have everything, but I am hard pressed to find artists the site doesn't have. So, check it out using this link - if you sign up, I get free dollas!

http://www.mp3fiesta.com/?user=2866135

I'm just sitting on the shelf

I've been feeling like a major Debbie Downer lately. Lately being... the last three days. I've decided to give it up. Cold turkey. No more "wah, wah's" for me! Look at me go. What a proactive Wednesday. So here is a blog entry about all of the things that are good or exciting in my veritable world at this current moment. [Sidenote, I have no idea if that was an appropriate use of the word "veritable," but it felt right, so I'm deciding to leave it there.]

All of the things that are good are these:
- spending my classless, JCrew-less wednesday
at Cafe Europa with Beckie Johns, listening to good music, catching up on emails, and reading good books for my good classes
- in October, I'm going to get to see Hanson (yes, Mmmbop Hanson - see picture) in concert. Matty Wertz (my favorite ever) is opening... and I'm thrilled.
- free music download of Phil Wickham (amazing) at www.philwickham.com. I highly reccommend it. I am recently in love with "Beautiful."
- Heathen dinner tonight!! Long story short, me and my friends Beckie and Joel were in a small group for a class in our first semester - and whenever we met for our projects, we always drank beer and ate pizza. So, we dubbed ourselves the Seminary Heathens, thus forming the Heathen club. Heathen dinners have since come to include Joel's wife, Marlin, as well as our friend Justin. I love Heathen dinners. So so much.
- my fabulous weekend with the new Mrs. Jessica Dahl! Look how much fun we had!
- that I live in Colorado and get to drive 30 minutes to go on hikes with my friends...

So, life is pretty good I guess.
Oh. Except for my new roommate. No, not Susan. Becca and Sarah are fine too. Even the dog, Daisy, is good. My new roommate is... sadly and grotesquely, a mouse. One or many? I'm choosing to believe it's one. This mouse (we'll call him GusGus) likes to scurry his little self into my room at night. Which has made me COMPLETELY and TOTALLY PARANOID. I think every noise, hair, movement, ANYTHING, is GusGus. It's ruining my life. I can hardly sleep without imagining the little guy crawling into bed with me. Something has to be done. I think I have to kill GusGus.

New favorite CD: She & Him. Favorite Song: Why Do You Let Me Stay Here. And that free CD. I love free stuff. OH and Amos Lee's self-titled CD, Amos Lee. Favorite Song: Bottom of the Barrel. Enjoy some good music (and a pumpkin spice latte - back in your local Sbucks!!) and the fabulous weather... I love fall.

avoiding work is my forte

www.yearbookyourself.com

this is me in: 1974, 1980, 1994 and 1996, respectively.
I'm so worthless.

"To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.

Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one,
and calls them each by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.

Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:25-31

stepping on toes

Those of you who know me, know that I love to read. This summer, with summer school being as demanding as it was, I hardly got to read at all - so with all the hype over "The Shack," it has been so hard for me not to be able to know what the fuss is all about and to read this supposedly brilliant work for myself. Now, I find myself halfway through this novel, and I'm just not into it. I read before bed the other night, and I just felt like there was something wrong with me - I should love this! It comes highly recommended, it's supposedly the next "Pilgrim's Progress"... WHAT IS THE DEAL? Well, I'll tell you what the deal is. I don't like it. And here's why.
Don't get me wrong - I do really love what William Young is trying to do. I love the idea that God meets us where we need him, as we need him - whatever form or manifestation that is. I love that the Holy Trinity lives in relationship with one another - that we can see their love and affection for one another in a tangible way. God IS love - and since God's love is not contingent on us, he must express that love in some way. It really is, in all seriousness, a beautiful concept. Having taken some theology, I find no beef with Young's ideas of God or presentation. It is a beautiful idea and a really wonderful picture of the depth and breadth of God's love for his people. So, you're wondering, just like I was... what is the deal?
The deal is, as I said, I don't like it. It is not a well-written book. I like, on paper, what is presented, but I am bored to tears by the presentation. The narrative is not especially engaging, it is nothing to write home about in terms of literary merit, and it is so obvious that its making me crazy. When I say obvious, I mean just that. You don't have to do any work to read this book. It leaves nothing to the imagination! Young just kind of tells us whats going on. "I'm God! This is Jesus! I'm the Holy Spirit!" BORING. Nothing is left to figure out, to try and work through. I know - I'm being critical. But its the truth. I suppose its doubly frustrating that I do find the subject matter so... worthwhile, that I wish it was just a better book.
Normally, I wouldn't deign to this kind of push-my-opinions-on-you-through-my-blog thing, but I had a conversation with a friend the other night about the book, and we were both so relieved to hear someone else agree! I mean, here I am, a Christian, and I don't like the Christian book of the year. Now, not to be dramatic, but that's bound to create some shame! So, I'm opening the door for you to be critical. If you want. Or to tell me you think I'm smoking crack. Either one is fine with me.

Any thoughts?

pretty much sums it up: