"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge —that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.


Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." -- Ephesians 3:14-21 (ESV)





Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Random Things Of Note

This is a long post. You've been warned.

1. I realized the other morning as I was blow drying my hair that it was 10 years ago that I started to blog. At the peak of my blogging career, I think I averaged about 50-60 consistent readers. Today, I'm down to 2 or 3. It's a sad, sad state of blogging affairs. I should just give it up already. But I can't. I need a different outlet than Facebook. I guess.

What I can say about the blogging life, it that I developed friendships with some pretty cool people. Some of whom I know in real life, or met once in real life, or have yet to meet in real life. Here's the list of the people I would not know today if not for having a blog (in no particular order):

CalTech Girl (and her hub, GmTroJan) - Beau and I (and Jesse) met them when we went to California for a family reunion with my in-laws. We are "friends" on Facebook now, where we spend a lot of time liking each others status updates and random links and whatnot.

Sleepy Beth (and her hub, Tim) - I can't remember exactly how we decided to meet in person. I know that it was after Beau and I were married. I think they invited us over for dinner or maybe we invited them over for dinner? Either way, about once or twice a year, we try to get together for dinner. And it is always a fun time, lots of laughs, and fun for our kids, too. We're overdue for having them over for dinner. An invitation is coming, Beth!

The Thinklings - It has been so long that I do not remember how I found this blog. I do know that things got personal when I got an email from Bill asking me to opine on this post. We have all on our separate blogging ways, but I love and appreciate the online brotherhood of these wonderful, Godly men. Over the years there were some really excellent theological debates, discussions about books, movies, and TV, and general silliness. They were with me when I was single, encouraged me when I started dating Beau, and were thrilled for me when Beau and I got married. Today, I am "friends" with Bill and Jared on Facebook as well. I can't wait until the day that I get to meet these men, whether it is in this mortal life or in eternity.

Phil - I think I "met" Phil through The Thinklings. A fellow book lover, we are "friends" on Facebook as well and follow each other on GoodReads, too. I have read books I otherwise would not have considered because of Phil's excellent recommendations. He is another Godly man whom I look forward to meeting one day, be it in person or in eternity.

Robbo - Back when he was a Llama Butcher with his pal, Steve, they organized a blogger meet up. Beau and I went and it was great to meet in person these two smart and witty guys. I also had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Robbo, who is charming and lovely. Steve was as nutty in person as in his writing, so there were many laughs along with the intellectual talk that often went over my head.

Amy - I first met Amy at a Christmas party at my sister's house. She is sweet and lovely and her husband is super nice. We have similar interests and one thing I cherish is our 90-Day Bible Challenge together along with a group of other women. We have done it twice now and I think it will probably happen again in the future. I am glad that I have met Amy in person and I wish we lived closer so that we could hang out.

There are others - folks with whom I am "friends" on Facebook but have never met in real life, folks whom I met in real life and have since lost touch with completely. But all of them have had an impact on my life in the past 10 years and I am grateful.

2. That was a long random note. I'm sorry.

3. Television - remember when I used to post my TV watching schedule and it was this long elaborate explanation of what got watched live and what was recorded and watched later? Yeah, my TV viewing habits are much simpler now. If it's live TV, it means it's on Disney Junior and my kids are awake. Except for Redskins football - I watch that live as much as is humanly possible with two kids who just. don't. get. it. and why aren't we watching Disney Junior?

By the way, have you seen Honest Toddler? I follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and the blog. I have a problem. Although he is making so many things so much clearer.

Anyway, TV. There are exactly 3 shows that get recorded for me these days. They are Doctor Who, Copper, and The American Bible Challenge. At some point, I'll set the DVR for Once Upon a Time and Top Shot when they come back, but that's it for now. I used to think it was sad, but now I'm kind of happy. I'm reading more and I'm not watching crap. Note: Doctor Who is not crap. It's actually much smarter and interesting than I expected and it is why I'm fully Whovian now. Copper is great - even Beau likes it.

Oh yeah, I can't forget Downton Abbey and Sherlock, but they won't be relevant topics until 2013, so we'll discuss them later.

Do you see the pattern, though? Almost everything I watch anymore originates in the UK. They make way better TV than we do in the US.

4. Books - Since the last books post, I have completed the following:

The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure by James Dashner - the 2nd and 3rd books in The Maze Runner Trilogy. I didn't hate the trilogy, but I do think it is way too long. It is also rather violent and gruesome. Interesting premise, though, and that's what kept me in the story. 3.5 stars for the entire series.

Complete Atopia Chronicles by Matthew Maher - This book was recommended by Hugh Howey. It is self-published and actually was a series of short stories, but Maher compiled them into one volume. The premise is very intriguing and the ethics were thought-provoking. That is what kept me reading to the end. It ended on a huge cliff-hanger. My initial feeling upon finishing it was frustration because I was pretty sure I was ready for it to be over. However, maybe with time I'll have renewed interest for the continuation of the story. Who knows? I think I gave this one 3 stars. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either.

Mariana by Susanna Kearsley - I finished this one last night. It was enjoyable, but I liked Kearsley's other novels better. 3.5 stars.

Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson - I finished listening to this one on the commute this morning. This is the funniest book I have ever read. There is a lot of profanity so if you're sensitive to that do not read this. Really. 5 stars.

Currently Reading: Delirium by Lauren Oliver (audio book) and No Easy Day by Mark Owen (Kindle).

5. The House and All That Entails - We are mostly unpacked. That said, there are still a lot of random boxes scattered around the house. I think maybe half of them are my books. We have a bookcase shortage, so I think those boxes are headed for the basement until we figure out where to put some additional bookcases.

I have always told my mother that when we had a large enough house that we would host Thanksgiving. Guess what? We're hosting Thanksgiving this year. And because I'm completely nutso and I often feel guilty that we spend the major holidays with my family every year, I told Beau that we were going to invite his family to join us, too. By my count I think we're having about 20 adults and 9 children. Um, is it OK to start panicking now? I kid, I'm not panicking. Being the planner that I am, I'm already working out logistics for all of the food (pot luck, sort of) and the sleeping arrangements for those who will need to spend some nights with us (Beau's cousin and his wife have a son a year younger than Jesse and twin girls who will be about 1 year old by then and they live in New Jersey. There is no way that is a day trip for them. I mean, she is an incredible wife/mother, but no way.)

Also, by then Beau's mother should be with us for an extended stay through the holidays/winter. I have worked hard to get the guest room ready for her. There's some clutter that needs moving to other places and then that room is completely finished. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

6. Family Vacation 2013 - We're going to Disney World! Molly calls it Disney Junior. So cute. I am very excited to take my kids to The Happiest Place on Earth. They are going to love it. I labeled a jar The Disney Fund and called the kids over to explain to them that we needed to start saving money for the trip to Disney. Whenever I have spare change, I give it to them and they very carefully drop the coins into the jar. I seeded it with a few dollar bills. Beau laughed and said, "If this goes like the baby bottle fundraiser for the crisis pregancy center, then just write a check and stick it in there." What's the fun in that?

And that is it for now. My fingers are tired of typing.

4 comments:

Amy Bennett said...

I'm still subscribed! Thank you for your sweet words. Bible in 90 days is one of my favorite things EVER and I've been tempted in the last few weeks to post a comment to the previous group about starting up again. I DEFINITELY want to do it again!

Jen said...

I do, too. I'm not ready yet and my fall/holidays are going to be koo-koo, so I'm leaning toward waiting until January.

Anonymous said...

Hard to believe we've been messing about with this all these years. (I think I'm near nine total now.) Totally agree about needing an outlet in which to jabber whether anybody's reading it or not.

- Robbo

Jen said...

Can you imagine if I posted all of this on FB? I would have no friends. =)