thanksgiving

So, I kind of have a love hate relationship with Thanksgiving week. The week has always been really emotional for me for multiple reasons. Thanksgiving was never my favorite holiday because it was the only holiday that my family didn't spend with my cousins. As we got older the thanksgiving feast got smaller and smaller. Papa died, grandma started going to another son's house, Mike started celebrating with Beth's family, then Christopher got married and is celebrating with Erika's family. Mike and Beth moved to Arizona and had a baby, so mom and dad flew out there leaving me by myself for the big day.

I know there are other places I could go and I have had invites, but it's not the same. Plus I never liked Turkey, anyway.

But ever since I went to college thanksgiving break is so exciting cause all my cousins come home and we get to hang out and do fun things. This year is going to be esspecially fun. Tomorrow everyone gets home and we are going into the city for a flip cup tournament (which we will dominate at) and then spending the night at my cousins' apartment. I love hanging out with my cousins.

So that's my post - Heather gives me a hard time about not blogging regularly anymore so I'm trying to get back into the groove... please be patient with me.

Take my quiz.... it'll be fun!

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long overdue and so not worth it

Well, I owe Heather a blog post and I know she will never stop harrasing me until I post... so here it is; an update on my life...

I am not even sure what to say because I feel like my life is so boring. I already told all of you about my many jobs, all of which are going well. I started coaching basketball in the begining of the month. That has been really fun. I love my team. I started of really nervous, thinking "what did I get myself in to?" but after our first game I am feeling pretty confident that coaching this team is so worth all the craziness. Our first game was an away game against a team who had already played three games. We lost, but played a really good game. I was super proud of them.

Things with Ari are good--he went hunting this weekend and will now be eating bambi for the next 11 months. Crocket is cute as can be. I get to babysit the boys all day monday and tuesday. Life is good.

So, Heather, is this satisfactory? my life is so dull right now.

a conversation

A conversation between my mom and me this morning. mom is in yellow, im in red. :)

"Monaca, try this jelly"
"I don't like jelly, mom... but this isn't jelly it's jam"
"Whatever, Monaca"
"ooh, mom, you should invest in jam-off"
"whats jam-off"
"its an AMAZING jam... wanna see a commercial for it"
"oh yeah... get out of here."

Jam-off

Crocket -- 10 months old

Isn't this puppy the cutest???

He never stops working...

I wanted to post this (with permission) because I think it is important that everyone knows how amazing God is. His works are incredible. This is an email from my very dear friends in spain. Troy and Heather Cady are the team leaders and pastors of the church, Oasis Madrid. They have two beautiful kids, Meg and Nic. Here is their story.

.....
In the words of Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all doing direct the other way..."

You might want to get a drink, a box of Kleenex and get comfy, because this is an epic story!

On Tuesday October 17, we received a call from CAI to let us know that we absolutely had to have our account out of deficit by year's end. Many of our colleagues are, as we were, suffering financially, and CAI is not able to "float" all of us when that happens. We of course had already been working on fund-raising, but this put an extra amount of pressure on us. At that point, we believed we were about $8,000 in the hole.

It was a rainy, grey week, and our spirits took a real nose-dive. On Friday the 20th, we met with Nic's teacher and another woman who provides assistance to kids at the school. They expressed concern that Nicolas (who is definitely behind, having jumped into the British school system this year) might have some kind of learning delay or issue. Although on its own, this news was not terrible, added to the burdens of the week, it became the straw that broke the camel's back.

I think that Friday was the worst day we have experienced in Spain. As the rain poured down outside, we struggled and grieved. We cried a lot of tears. We talked about leaving Spain, even if the money came in.

On Saturday, we sent out an email asking that you join us in prayer on Sunday October 22nd. We really did not know what God was doing, where He was leading. That evening, we had a service. At the end of the service, they kicked Troy & I out and voted to give us a generous financial gift from the church. Afterwards they sat us down, gathered around us, prayed for us and cried with us. We went home feeling more peaceful and encouraged, but still wondering what God was going to do. We asked our kids some loaded questions about where we should live. Among other things, Meg said "I think it's important to live in Spain to tell people about God."

Emails began pouring in, speaking words of encouragement to us. People were praying with us.We were certainly not alone. That Sunday we spent as a family, talking and praying and asking God to show us what to do. We asked God only that He would get our account back in the black by the end of the year. We made the difficult decision that if it was not in the black by then, we would leave Spain at the end of the school year.

Then the financial commitments starting coming in. Some of them before we even asked; some of them after. All of them generous, one huge one from a man we have never even met before. Part-way through the process we found out that we were actually $12,000 in the hole after having paid for school this fall. Still, the emails kept coming.

As I write this, (between actual gifts and pledges) God has provided funds to wipe our deficit, pay for the next school payment in January, and begin to build up our required 2-month financial buffer. He has also sent $350 per month in new monthly support.

Needless to say, we are staying in Spain! God answered clearly, quickly and with overwhelming generosity. It's amazing. The difference in our emotional states has been remarkable. I think both Troy and I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off our shoulders.
.....

Amen.

jobs, friends, and gun wounds

Well, it has been a long time. I am not even sure if anyone read this anymore... I won't blame you if you don't. Anyway, if there is anyone out there that is still interested, here is an update on my life.

Work Factor:
I love my job. For those of you who don't know I am a teaching assistant for 6th grade special needs kids. It is pretty excellent. I work with some fun kids who are a challenge, but definitely worth it. I miss babysitting the twins every day, but they are in preschool now so I couldn't, even if I wanted to. Their mom has me babysit pretty often on evenings though, so I still get to see them quite a bit. I also just got a job for a catering company working as a waitress. I haven't started yet, but I think it will be fun. Plus, Celeste works for this company and the owner said she would try to have me working with Celeste. How awesome is that? Oh, and one more job -- Next week I have tryouts for the boys basketball team that I am coaching. How fun is that? So, I am busy, but enjoying every moment of the busyness.

Social Factor:
I have been having a lot of fun on the weekends. My friends and I found a great new dance club that is free on Fridays (before 10pm) so we try to get out there pretty often. The next time we are going is for Celeste's birthday in two weeks. My dog is getting HUGE... but he is as cute as can be and doing pretty well in his training. My friends Kendra and Brian just got engaged -- congrats to them. Let's see what else is going on??? Nope, that's about it. Good times had by all.

Injury Factor:
A direct quote from my friend Gerry: "You know, Monaca, it is mindboggling how much you hurt yourself." It is funny, because I haven't actually injured myself in a long time. Last time I was in the hospital (which was because of ear drum problems that were out of my control) was in august. And other than my back hurting from time to time, I have been alright. Until yesterday... this is pretty humorous though.

Yesterday, Ari and Celeste wanted to go to a shooting range to practice since deer hunting season is coming up. So they brought me with them and I had a lot of fun. I hit a bull's eye on my first shot fired and only missed twice out of the six shots I took. I was using Ari's shotgun which doesn't have a scope on it (a scope is the thing you put on the top of your gun to magnify what you are aiming at). Then I decided I wanted to try a scope so I used Celeste's gun. Let me set this up... When you shoot a shotgun, you need to have it really snug on your shoulder, otherwise it comes back it hits you really hard. But even if it's really close to your shoulder, it still pushes back. Well, if you have your face too close to the scope (as I did) then it comes back and hits you in the face (as it did to me). It was so cold outside that I didn't even notice how much it hurt but Celeste was like "ooh, we have blood" as she was taking off my saftey goggles. I cut open (pretty deep) the top of my nose right in between my eyes and my left eye is a little bruised. Needless to say, I can do without a scope.

And that's my life in a nutshell (help! I'm in a nutshell and I can't get out!)

I stole this one

I stole this one

1. How old do you wish you were? 21 is a good age
2. Where were you when 9/11 happened? I was in school--in the music department.
3. What do you do when vending machines steal your money? whine and complain
4. Do you consider yourself kind? I hope I am...
5. If you had to get a tattoo, where and what would it be? Why would somebody HAVE to get a tattoo? That doesn't make sense.
6. If you could be fluent in any other language, what would it be? Spanish
7. Do you know your neighbors? Yeah, the neighbors to the right have lived there all my life and to the left have lived there for ten years -- both are pretty great families!
8. What do you consider a vacation? A day of loungin by the pool with wine coolers.
9. Do you follow your horoscope? I think that is against my religion
10. Would you move for the person you loved? Of course.
11. Are you touchy feely? Definitely
12. Do you believe that opposites attract? Sure, on lots of levels
13. Dream job? I would love to write songs for someone else to sing.
14. Favorite channels? I don't really watch tv
15. Favorite place to go on a weekend? Lake Geneva with the boat
16. Showers or bath? I like baths but I never take them. Something about putting my tushy on a dirty tub grosses me out.
17. Do you paint your nails? No.
18. Do you trust people easily? hrm... I never used to but now I try to give people the benefit of the doubt.
19. What are your phobias? Heights. Earwigs. Loved ones dying.
20. Do you want kids? Not any time soon... if ever.
21. Do you keep a handwritten journal? Off and on.
22. Where would you rather be right now? With Ari.
23. What makes you feel warm and safe? When Ari wraps his arms around me.
24. Heavy or light sleep? Depends on the night. I vary between both extremes.
25. Are you paranoid? this is a weird question... why do you want to know?
26. Are you impatient? Very.
27. Who can you relate to? Everyone on some level...
28. How do you feel about interracial couples? Wow, where did a question like that come from? I have absolutely no problem with it and dont understand why there is even debate over it.
29. Have you been burned by love? No.
30. What's your life motto? It changes every week.
31. What's your main ringtone on your mobile? It is Hell's Bells by AC DC
32. What were you doing at midnight last night? Sleeping
33. Who was your last text message from? Celeste
34. Whose bed did you sleep in last night? wouldn't you like to know.
35. What color shirt are you wearing? Tan--I'm wearing my Lynyrd Skynyrd shirt
36. Most recent movie you watched? Friday Night Lights
37. Name five things you have on you at all times? Underwear, cell phone, a necklace, a hair tie, my wallet.
38. What color are your bed sheets? purple
39. How much cash do you have on you right now? oooh - $40 cause I just got done puppy sitting.
40. What is your favorite part of the chicken? I only like the chicken breast if it is marinated and in pasta or salad.
41. What is your favorite town/city? Chicago, no contest.
42. I can't wait till... I move to Spain
43. What did you have for dinner last night? Ari cooked Chicken with mashed potatos and broccoli
44. How tall are you barefoot? 5'6
45. Have you ever smoked crack? Never
46. Do you own a gun? No. Nor will I ever.
47. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Water to rehydrate myself.
48. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex? uh... I don't lure....
49. Do you have A.D.D? Do you?
50. What time did you wake up today? 7:30
51. What is your favorite candy? Starburst
52. Current worry? No worries.
53. Current hate? steak... but thats a constant hate.
54. Favorite place to be? By the ocean.
55. Where would you like to travel? Ireland
56. Where do you think you'll be in 10 years? Whereever God leads me
57. Last thing you ate? white chedder popcorn
58. What songs do you sing in the shower? whatever is in my head
59. Last person that made you laugh? Ari
60. Worst injury you ever had? Internal bleeding in my left leg after I broke my ankle into a million pieces

Books

My friends, Julie and Mike, tagged me. So... here ya go.

1.One book that changed your life: After Silence by Nancy Raine

2.One book that you’ve read more than once: The Brother's K by David James Duncan

3.One book you’d want on a desert island: The Message by Eugene Peterson

4.One book that made you laugh: Revenge of the Paste Eaters by Cheryl Peck

5.One book that made you cry: Mick Harte Was Here by Barbara Park

6.One book you wish had been written: I dont know...

7.One book you wish had never been written: Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

8.One book you’re currently reading: The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis

9.One book you’ve been meaning to read: Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller

10.One book you’d like to write: I don't have a title yet but I am in the process of writing a memior.

Now tag 5 people: Troy Cady, Heather Cady, Kelly Wills, Amy Baas, Ami Godoy

Here it goes again

Okay I found this on Wendy's blog and I had to share it with all of you.