"That's What (S)he Said"

Notable Quotes:

My (10 year old) brother, Weston called me tonight and we were talking about the Carolina game last night (which was AWESOME by the way):
Me: So, did you get to stay up and watch the game last night?
Weston: Yeah, I watch it till the end
Me: Did you scream at the end when he made that shot?
Weston: No. But me and dad chest bumped though.
Me: (stifling my laughter) Oh? How did that work out?
Weston: Not too good. Let's just say, it wasn't good for business.

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At the end of the Carolina/FSU game Wednesday night (me and four of my friends were watching it at my place)
All of us: AHHHHHHHHH OH MY GOD OH MY GOD AHHHHHHHHH DID THAT JUST HAPPEN?
[Silence as we all catch our breath from screaming at the top of our lungs for several minutes]
Roman: (with everyone still silent, in all seriousness) I love you Tywon.
All of us: (burst into laughter)

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Amber telling us about some guy at Student Stores
Amber: This guy was sitting at the table with his shoes off and his feet propped up on the table. AND he was wiggling his toes. He was reading this book and he kept laughing out loud. Then, he farted out loud. OUT LOUD! Me and this older woman looked at each other and back at him and back at each other. And there were two other guys sitting across from him, and they never looked up or anything. But that's not the worst part. He then stuck his hand down in pants. He was all up in his toolbox. He kept laughing out loud at his book. And then... he pulled his hand out and.... Touched the book.

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Have a great Friday folks!

Prayers for Erin

Update: Yesterday, in Madagascar, rioters set fire to a government broadcasting building, killing 34 people. This protest was in response to their President shutting down an opposition broadcasting company. Troops are now securing the streets of the capital, where all of this occurred. Erin will not be staying in the capital, but please pray for this tension between the citizens/government to be resolved peacefully!

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Hey guys I just wanted to ask a favor! My dear friend Erin leaves tomorrow to go to Madagascar for 4 months! I am so proud of her for embarking on this awesome journey! Please pray for her safety and growth (as in personal growth, not literal growth - she's already way taller than me!)

Yay Erin! Have fun! We will miss you!

You can follow her blog while she's in Madagascar (an island off the east coast of Africa)! She's pretty awesome!

Snow Brawl

Go hard or go home!

Just kidding... but for real though, my roomies don't play! Here are some pictures from our snow ball fight turned ugly :)

This is after Amanda's killer aim nailed Katherine right in the lip by accident... We gave her a snow ball to put on her mouth.

Wait... did you see the blood? Take a closer look!

One more closer look... (this is gross)

Calling a truce, haha.... Roomie love!

On a different note, these are our awesome snow/rain boots!! (Katherine's, Roman's, Amanda's, Laura's)

Until next time...

Beware of the flying snowballs and killer boots.

Snow Day!

Yay for Snow! Here are some pictures of the winter wonderland outside!

This is outside my apartment around 10 am. The snow was really coming down! "How exciting! So, let me go check my computer to make sure classes are cancelled... Come on computer, hurry up!!! [...]

[...] What? UNC has classes? This can't be right. I am so mad at you UNC!"

More of the snow outside my apartment!

Had to get one of the Old Well in there...

Happy Snow Day Y'all! :-)

Today's Happenings Around Carolina

My Sociology Professor speaking on "norms" – Why are there boy colors and girl colors? I hate that. Who says that this color is for boys and this color is for girls? You know what though, when I see a girl in boys’ clothes – I am disgusted. Not because I think she’s a tomboy, but because she’s in boys’ clothes. This is what norms do to people. When my wife was pregnant, we didn’t find out the sex because it didn’t matter to us. I went to Babies-R-Us to pick out an outfit for the baby and the lady said “How can I help you?” I told her that I was looking for an outfit for a newborn and she said “Oh Congratulations! Is it a boy or a girl?” I told her I didn’t know and she said “Oh well, see that’s a problem, because we have our boy clothes over here and our girl clothes over there.” So, I asked for a neutral colored outfit. She asked “Like what?” Light purple? “Nope,” she said, “that’s a girl’s color.” Green? “Boy’s color.” Um… ???

No worries though Professor – Brittany and I have the answer: Carolina blue. It looks good on everyone!

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Religion in America class today – True or false:
1. Religion influences pop culture.
2. Pop culture influences religion.
3. Pop culture is a religion.

Well #1 is definitely true – see movies such as The Boondock Saints, Chronicles of Narnia. See players on the court/field acknowledge their God after scoring. See TV Shows, art, books, etc. that all have been influenced by religion.

#2 is also true. See the upbeat songs churches are turning to rather than using strictly hymnals. See the video clips pastors show during sermons. See the “hot topics” lessons bible studies do series on. Pop culture is used by religion to bring the average person to come to know a religion’s views/etc.

And #3? False! Sorry Carolina students, you’ve got to stop over analyzing this. Saying pop culture is a religion is quite a stretch! Just because people dress a certain way, come together, go to athletic events, feel a certain way based on those athletic events, have a certain loyalty to sports… doesn’t make it a religion. While it is certainly true that pop culture may mimic religions, religious rituals, or religious ideals… it IS NOT A RELIGION folks! Last time I checked, when you asked people what religion they followed… no one has ever said “pop culture.” Don’t overthink this guys. I’m just sayin’… :)

And for the record, religion is not the same thing as spirituality.

I think I’m going to like this class and talking about my beliefs!

"Most folks are about as happy as....

...they make their minds up to be." – Abe Lincoln

Little things that made me happy this week:

- The new DTH stand outside my apartment
- Laughing with Amanda & Katherine about our Christmas tree
- Seeing my friends laugh
- A baby’s laugh
- Catching the bus right before it leaves
- Learning new things
- Game shows (Family Feud – I love that show!)
- “Carolina girls…are the best in the world” song
- Carolina in general
- UNC winning basketball games (ha… that didn’t happen this week)
- Finding out there’s tea in the fridge
- Yummy spaghetti
- Dinner with old friends – in this case, Amanda Garner
- Elfis, the Great White Bear
- My cool new gloves (Friday’s high is 29! Brr!)
- Staying on top of my work (I know, it’s only the first week back!)
- Seeing God work in my life
- Parker & every second with him
- The pretty sky on the way back to Chapel Hill....

Not Me! Monday

So I stole this idea from Mckmama’s blog – you should SO read it if you haven’t! But anyways, what you do is you share all the things you “did not do” over the course of the week. You see, you “did not do” these things because they are embarrassing and you want other people to know they aren’t alone… That’s a poor explanation but read Mckmama’s blog and you’ll understand. These are the things I did not do this week:

I did not spend three days of my vacation last week doing absolutely nothing after sleeping in until 11 and 12 o’clock…

I did not take a picture of the pretty sky while driving down 264 on the way back to Chapel Hill…. That would be irresponsible.

And I certainly did not laugh at my TA who tripped down the steps during class today, that would be so rude.

I also did not ask several people where Rm. 105 was in Caldwell before turning around and realizing that it was the HUGE lecture hall right behind me.

I did not secretly scream for joy when I saw that we have a DTH stand right outside our apartment now so I can grab a copy of the paper on the way to class everyday now without going out of my way.

Finally, I do not miss Parker at all… How could I miss such a charming, loving, caring, handsome man that just happens to be the love of my life?

Tell me about your “Not Me Monday!”

Do Not Be Afraid?

I don’t know how many times the Bible says “Do not be afraid,” but it must be over a hundred! When Jesus walked on water, the Bible says, “They cried out in terror… Jesus spoke to them at once, ‘Don’t be afraid. Take courage! I am here!’" (Mark 6:49-50). The Angel from God told Mary and Joseph not to be afraid. Jesus told the disciples not to be afraid after the Resurrection. God said to Paul and Joshua and Abram and Moses and Daniel – everyone – “Do not be afraid.”

In Isaiah 43:5, He says, “Do not be afraid, for I am with you.”

I mean, you get where I’m going with this – God clearly doesn’t want us to be afraid.

In my devotional book, Hope for Each Day, by Billy Graham (its awesome by the way!), it says that, “in the midst of a world filled with danger, hatred, and war, the words of our Lord Jesus Christ are just as relevant as when He spoke them. He still says to all who love Him, ‘Do not be afraid.’”

Well why not? Why shouldn’t we be afraid – we just listed off a bunch of things to be afraid of – danger, hatred, war… we can add: the economy, sickness, new adventures, hard classes, failure, finding a job, losing a child, losing a parent…you fill in the blank.

BUT, He says, “Don’t be afraid. I’m alive and I’m here for you.” I think this is pretty powerful -Billy Graham says:

The Cross shows the depth of His love and the Resurrection shows the depth of his power. Nothing can ever separate Him from us. Nothing.

Romans 8 says, “In all things God works for the good of those who love him… If God is for us, who can be against us?” God sacrificed Jesus for us; Jesus died and was raised to life for us. God created us. God created Earth and all that it holds. God has power. God IS power. Who can separate us from the love of Christ? When I think about it, everything else (danger, hatred, war…) seems pretty insignificant compared to God and His love for us.

I lift up my eyes to the hills –
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip –
he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD watches over you –
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
The sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you from all harm –
he will watch over your life;
The LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
-- Psalm 121:1-8

This is just what was making me think tonight after my devotional...

I hope your day is blessed!