Day of Change

When I first began my blog (almost two years ago!) it was called Day of Change because Obama was being inaugurated into the presidency. The whole reason I started this was because I was experiencing the inauguration. Now I have a different view on this Day of Change.

Days are changing all the time. Sure, that sounds silly… of course yesterday was Monday and today is Tuesday, but what I mean is changes are taking place in my life each and every day.

Over the past couple months I’ve debated back and forth in my head whether I really want to start grad school, whether I should wait another semester, do I really want to do MBA, what am I supposed to do with this idea? I knew it would be work even to get into grad school. Number one, I have to do an MBA primer (courses online since I don’t have an undergrad degree in business). Number two, GRE… enough said. Number three, do I really want to stress over something if I really have no clue what I’m doing??

Days are changing yet again because I’m living on my own, waking up for an 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. job and I’m getting married in about six months.

With all this ahead, I know things will continue to change, but I’ve never found it more fitting. These are my days of change. I’m running with it and holding on, hoping change is for the best in the end, or (for a better word)  the beginning of the next big change.

Book it

The honeymoon is booked!

Oh how sweet a 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise sounds right now.

Even though it’s 219 days away, I am SO looking forward to the day I can lay out in the sun next to my husband without any worries… no more wedding plans and no work (for a week!).

(Joan and Linda, if you’re reading this, I will still miss you, of course.)

The only thing to worry about will be which excursion to choose for our next stop, and choosing what to eat off the menu (although last time I went on a cruise, my mom was told she could have both if she couldn’t decide).

The best part about the wedding being over is the awesome honeymoon that follows. We can’t wait!

Picturing it

Last weekend was very successful in the wedding world, and now I finally feel like I can picture it!

For a while now, I knew where it was all going to happen, but there were so many things I didn’t know so I couldn’t really picture it.

Now that I have bridesmaid dresses picked out and  flowers picked out (and under budget!), and a possible cake idea… I can finally see in my head how it might be on May 21, 2011.

We also finished registering… which is such a long, tiring process. We thought it would be so fun, but it’s hard picking out everything and remembering what we’ve already registered for… hoping it’s all going to match. If we actually got everything on our registries, I have no clue where we would put it all! (Especially since most of it is kitchen stuff and the kitchen I’m in now is tiny!)

Drew also picked out his wedding band!

It’s all getting more and more real! 223 days to go!

Inspired

I just read a friend’s blog, http://johnblair.theworldrace.org/?filename=keep-the-change, and it inspired me.

He presents a challenge of balance that he plans to take part in when he returns to the U.S. (right now he’s on a mission trip around the world).

Basically the balance challenge isn’t to write a check to a charity out of pity or guilt, but to keep a balance. For example, spend $8 on a movie or $4 on Starbucks, put that same amount of money in a savings account. At the end of the year, that savings account will be donated to helping someone in need.

As someone who has recently been on an overseas mission trip, I see this as an amazing idea and opportunity. Not only will it keep someone aware of how much he/she spends on silly, frivolous, useless things, but it will also help out others in the end.
When I went to Nicaragua over Christmas break, I came back with that feeling of guilt, but didn’t really know what I could do to help. I think balance is the answer.

I thought I couldn’t afford to sponsor a child (at the time I didn’t have a clue if I would have a job after graduation or not and I didn’t want to make that kind of financial commitment), yet I could easily go buy a new pair of shoes… it just doesn’t make sense.

John has definitely inspired me. While I may be treating myself, balance can keep me thinking about others and help them in the end. It might get me thinking maybe I don’t really NEED to buy this; but even if I do, at least someone else in the world can benefit.

Night football game at CU

At the end of August, Campbellsville University had its very first night football game. With the help of Jack Lengyel, former football coach at Marshall University (played by Matthew McConaughey in the movie “We are Marshall”) we were able to get new turf and lights for the football field at Finley Stadium.

Jack Lengyel and I at the first night football game. It was so cool to meet someone who is a movie star in way… I mean he is played by Matthew McConaughey after all! (CU Photo by Joan McKinney)

Finley Stadium was full for the first night football game at CU. The Tigers won 34-7! (CU Photo by Christina Miller)

This photo was fun to take… I climbed up on scaffolding with students filming the game. It was scary, though, I don’t know how they stand up there for the whole game. But, I’m really glad that I took it… the photo will be in several ads and in the alumni magazine.

These are only two photos of 800-something from that night, but I wanted to share about Jack Lengyel!

Prayer Request

For the June 2010 Campbellsvillian (CU’s alumni magazine) I wrote about four alumni who are on the World Race… a mission trip to 11 countries in 11 months. Through writing the story, I became friends with one of those alumni, John Blair. He has sent in a prayer request via Facebook for a member of another team who now has stage 9 malaria.

To learn more about the World Race, visit www.theworldrace.org.

Please read John’s message below and pray for his friend Trevor… I’m not asking you to give anything to help him except for some time of prayer:

Dear Friends,

Last time I sent an email about a prayer request for a friend named Trevor Currington on N Squad who was diagnosed with malaria really bad. I really appreciate those have taken time to be on their knees on behalf of him but I must ask you to really be praying hard for this.

I just got home from a full day of ministry when my teammate Tash told us that it has gotten worse. He had gotten Stage 9 Malaria which is one of the worst of all and will show up anytime after being dormant. His spleen was ruptured and there was blood in his lungs we were told, and he had surgery this morning to take it out and clean. There is no question now that he must be medically evacutated back to the States to Miami now and his dad has to come get him. It’s a really serious matter, just my last night in Dublin him and I were with another guy just enjoying the night in Ireland and he was fine.

here’s the biggest prayer request aside from his health; apparently his insurance will not pay for this emergency and he has to go back home. They have refused to pay or help at all the $96,000 USD it’s going to take to get him home and taken care of at the hospital; I cannot believe this. His church, Central Christian Church, has started a fundraiser to get him home and i please ask you to give to him and to be on your knees in prayer for him. Actually, I really request you to help whether it’s ten bucks or if you can shell a lot more to get our friend home and to health; as squadmates were are really feeling this for ourselves.

Please go to his church’s link:
http://www.centralchristianocala.org/
and on the top right you will see where it says “Please Help Trevor Fight Malaria”
Click donate, there’s a big front page about it right now.
if you want to see his blog site also go to:
http://trevorcurington.theworldrace.org/

I don’t care where you are, work, home, whatever; please be on your knees if possible or anyway you feel best and pray for Trevor and please please donate what you can.

Sincerely,
john

Acts 20:24

Forgot one

I forgot one registry on the list, although I’m not so sure it exists. My dad would REALLY like for us to register at Lowe’s.

Lowe’s is by far my dad’s favorite store. That’s how I spent my Saturdays as a kid… running errands with Dad, which most definitely included a trip to Lowe’s. Dad would love for Andrew and I to have a “tool” shower… a shower for the guys. This is coming from a man who bought me a tool kit for high school graduation (which I used quite a bit, but I don’t think he even bought my brother such a thing).

Can you even register for gifts at Lowe’s??? I looked at the website and their gift center includes gift suggestions and gift cards. Gift cards are probably the best gift ever invented, though… as long as it’s to a good store.

Sure, we don’t have a garage in our two-bedroom apartment, and if something breaks we can call the landlord. And, sure, Andrew doesn’t have much a clue when it comes to tools. Dad really needs to get a move on with teaching Andrew some “handyman lessons” if we’re going to be getting tools for our wedding.

Gift etiquette??

After yesterday’s blog about registering for gifts, I’ve had some questions that no one seems to agree on. What do you think?

1. Is it inappropriate to include where the couple is registered with the wedding invitation?

– From what I’ve seen with recently married friends, everyone seems to include something that says where they’re registered. Is that rude, like the couple expects a gift whether the invited person comes or not?

–What do you do if it’s not included in the invitation? Will people ask or will they buy you a gift you don’t want?

2. Is it bad etiquette to bring the gift to the wedding and/or reception?

– I’ve heard it’s bad etiquette, but someone recently told me you’re only supposed to send it to the couples’ house. What if you don’t want to pay shipping?

Let me know what you think. Are these bad to do? What would you do instead?

Registering for wedding gifts 101

Labor Day Weekend was the perfect opportunity for my fiance and I to register for our wedding gifts! It was so fun, but so much harder than I expected!

Andrew and I are always looking for ways to have fun, but that are also free… so registering for wedding gifts was a perfect option! Not only was it fun AND free, but we might get a lot of stuff out of it in 256 days! While it was a lot of fun to pick out all the stuff that our friends and family will (hopefully!) buy for us, I didn’t realize how difficult it would be to make so many decision on the spot!

We started out at Bed, Bath & Beyond…we both love the store; it has some really neat stuff. I’m a little wishy-washy about the decision to register there. My first impression was that I was blown out of the water… they have their own little office specifically set up for registering couples, they offer you crackers and water, give you a tour of the store, explain everything to you, offer suggestions and advice, and check on you and offer even more help once you start getting scan-happy!

The reason I’m not so sure about our decision to register there is because we couldn’t seem to find just the right comforter, shower curtain or whatever once it actually came down to it. There were several that we liked, but for the comforter, we couldn’t find the ones we really liked in a full size (yeah, I hear we’re going to learn to be close whether we want to or not). Other than that, though, it was a wonderful experience and I would definitely recommend Bed, Bath & Beyond.

Because we were so worn out from spending three hours in Bed, Bath & Beyond, we took a break and eventually ended up in J.C. Penney, just to look. We had no intentions of registering at J.C. Penney, but after finding a comforter set (that came in a full size) and curtains that we liked, we decided “what the heck, it can’t hurt.” We also encountered problems with sizes and finding a place to scan curtains, but it was easily fixed once we turned our scanner back in.

All in all, registering was a lot of fun! I cannot wait to open gifts and see what I get… a newlywed friend of mine was always so amazed when she opened a gift and it was exactly what she wanted, even though you register for it it’s still a surprise!

If you plan on registering anytime soon, I would recommend doing some research online first. I found that it was so hard to color coordinate the apartment (we don’t want red everywhere, or blue, or brown… but we can have one for each room). Figure out what it is that you want and what’s available… then get scan-happy!

Checklist:

1. Bed, Bath & Beyond– done

2. J.C. Penney– done

3. Target vs. Wal-Mart or both?? Target has cooler stuff, but Wal-Mart has more stuff and there are more Wal-Mart stores in smaller towns.

4. Local downtown shop– Mom thinks we should, but too many registries can make us look selfish! Either way, we’ll sure enjoy the gifts!

Skype

I recently got Skype and I’ve fallen in love!

When my boyfriend transferred away from Campbellsville to Murray, I wanted to get Skype so that we could still “see” each other, but he thought it was a lame idea because he didn’t want to buy a webcam. Just a couple weeks ago, he got a webcam from his roommate so he decided to buy a microphone and get Skype! Of course, then I decided I would “splurge” on a $18 webcam and get it too!

I love Skype, and I wish we would have began it earlier. I get to talk and see my fiance for free!

Skype allows free video calls to any other Skype user, and calls to any other phone for super cheap!

Of course now we only have one more semester until he graduate and moves to the next town over from me, but at least it will help for the next four months! I hope my little brother will also get Skype now that he’s away at college.