things you always wanted to know

1: i have a unique cupcake eating regimen…i break off the bottom half of the cake and put it on top, like an icing sandwich. try it. you’ll like it.

2: i sent an audition tape to the amazing race with my friend jason

3: my dad was in a nursing home for awhile before he passed away, which is part of the reason i work at one now

4: i am the very proud owner of a baby grand piano...which currently lives in st. louis with my mom

5: $2 is my upper price limit for a box of cereal, and i take that very seriously

6: ozzie smith is, and always will be, my favorite baseball player. my childhood goal was to be a shortstop for the stl cardinals so we could be teammates

7: i never, ever get tired of watching friends re-runs

8: i have seen the movie back to the beach more times than i could ever count...and every time i watch it i want a peanut butter sandwich

9: i was on homecoming court in both high school and college

10: i have a hole in my left shin where i was kicked on a horse while on a trail ride in branson, two days before starting eighth grade

11: i am madly in love with hyvee

12: i was once the lead in a church musical where i played an alien named zak from a planet of blue people [the color, not the emotion]

13: i've had a recent fascination with the cause of world war one

14: i remember very specific details from the days of oj's car chase, the oklahoma city bombing, and 9-11

15: when i was in college my dad randomly bought a red corvette and would let me borrow it for weeks at a time

16: i am a lifetime member of the international thespian society

17: i was a canoe instructor at new life ranch...i know the five basic canoeing strokes and how to do a deep and shallow water rescue

18: i have exceptional map reading skills and a good sense of direction...this is why i love exploring

19: i don't like using capital letters and i like to think of it as part of my artistic style

20: in my first car the stereo volume had a numerical display and i always left it on an even number. always.

21: my family owned a boat all growing up and i love being out on the water

22: in seventh grade i wore a yellow smiley face pin that said "Jesus loves you" every day. literally. every. day.

23: i have an art degree because it sounded fun [and it was]

24: growing up we had a lot of trees and it was my job to pick up the sticks so my dad could mow. i hated this job. once i was so distraught about my situation that i leaned up against a tree and sobbed about the fact that my parents clearly only had me for the purpose of picking up sticks

25: my college flag football team, the killer bees, were the undefeated champions two years in a row...awwww sting 'em!

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i just love birthdays

laugh if you'd like, but happy half birthday to me! that's right, today i turned 29 1/2. normally there is not a whole lot of fanfare surrounding my half birthday, aside from me announcing it to whoever i happen to come in contact with that day [and my wonderfully appeasing mom sending me a card], but today was a different story. and it is, after all, a pretty important half. i was working at john knox and when i came back into the office from serving lunch i was showered with confetti and streamers as amber yelled "happy half birthday!" it was a delightful surprise, complete with balloons and a bag of popcorn. the residents i work with are great [and often amusing], but my co-workers entertain my crazy ideas and are equally fun!

and just because i like to show off my friends, here's a picture from last fall when we celebrated the 80th birthday of our faithful and fabulous volunteer carol.

shelly . amber . carol . dia

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my mexican adventure

the first thing i learned in mexico is that the desert in the winter is COLD! i wore two pairs of pants and four shirts every day...which may have been a bit obsessive, but i was just trying to stay warm.

this trip was with organized by a friend from college and we worked with a ministry called tapestries of life that i was really impressed with. the work they do is very well planned and organized and they seem to be very good stewards of the things they have been given.

four of the days were spent working on the orphanage they are building, which is called the casa de las gemas or the house of gems. everything they do and use to build this home for the children is quality. steve [the founder] has a thousand and one stories about how supplies, funding, and volunteers have come together at just the right time. 

the construction days were a lot like my days at habitat. we all divided up to work on a bunch of different projects. some guys put the ceiling up in the big atrium area in the middle of the building, there was a tile crew, and some others did some drywall mudding and sanding. my friend spencer and i were in charge of painting one of the rooms that will eventually house 13-15 year old boys [okay, technically spencer was in charge and i was the assistant to the head artist]. castle ministries, which is the organization i went with, has sponsored this room so they wanted a castle theme. not to brag or anything, but our room blows the other rooms out of the water. i can say that because most of the talent came from spencer, so it's not really bragging.

my stone wall

the grand entrance

on wednesday we took a break from construction for mercy day. on this day we purchase a lot [and i really mean a lot] of food to hand out in an impoverished neighborhood in mexico. we handed out groceries for over 250 families, and toys and stocking hats to lots of kids. it's humbling to know that some of these families may not have eaten in days and this food really is an answer to their prayers. the few hours that we are handing out the food is organized chaos, but again the tapestries staff had a plan for everything. we also handed out quality food...each family received beans and rice, meat, cheese, onions, tomatoes, carrots, peppers, eggs, bread and toilet paper.

we also rang in the new year while we were there, though our celebration was pretty low key. 

the whole gang: castle ministries and the wisconsin crew

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