Watching Pride and Prejudice with Tirina was nice. We laughed together at some of the cute parts, which was fun.

I can't believe how quickly today has gone by. It's been a good day overall. I feel like significant progress has been made on my picture powerpoint. It really feels like it's been coming together, and is very near done. YAY!

For lunch I ate pot roast, carrots and creamy mashed potatoes downstairs with a couple of co-workers. I have been so excited about our staff lunches that I was actually able to recite the whole rest of the week's menu to them. :oD We all were laughing -- it was pretty funny.

It's beautiful outside again. But I think instead of walking, I will shower and wash my hair before prayer meeting tonight.

It is so gorgeous outside.

I can't believe how quickly this day passed. Things are coming together for my trip this weekend. I still really need to pray and sit back and trust the Lord. There are still uncertainities, and lots of preparations that need to be made.

By faith it will all go well. :o) I'm getting excited about it! I love this church and getting to catch up with the people there.

Well at 6:30 my friend Tirina and I are going to see Pride and Prejudice (one of our long-time favorites) at the dollar theater. I'm looking forward to it. :o) We'll also pray together on the way there, which will be really nice. I need that. :oD

Now I think I'm going to try to go enjoy some of this gorgeous weather and do some praying myself.

All in all, today was a good day. I like Friday's.

Caitlyn and I had a nice meal at McAlister's Deli. I am still enjoying my COKE from there. :o) I like their cups. May sound silly, I know, but I do.

Last night I practiced my presentation. It went so well. So grateful for that!

This weekend not a whole lot is planned . . .

Tomorrow late afternoon I'm meeting up with others from my church to hear the experiences of a gal who went to Russia on a short-term mission. Then Sunday I'm visiting my friend Cindi's church with her, followed by a lunch with some other gals at the Olive Garden to celebrate her birthday.

I changed my blog template today. I hope I like it. I won't know until after I publish this post, since the changes haven't showed up yet.

I like to be adventurous.

Well, last night I did pray about my presentation. And I felt such a peace in my heart . . . and God gave me a great idea on how to start it out. Praise the Lord!

I am still not totally done with presentation preparations (boy, is that a tongue twister! :oD) but by faith things will continue to go well. I still need to figure some things out with my picture powerpoint presentation (auuggh! techie stuff is not my forte. ;o))). But God is faithful.

And I am feeling increasingly excited about next weekend. I do have to say, though, that I'm glad it's not already this weekend. :o) I don't feel ready yet.

Now I'm going back to the apartment. Just a little while back, at work, I finished my written presentation (by God's strength!). So I am incredibly excited to "try it out" at home and see how long it is. :o) That seriously will be fun. It will be a little harder, though, when it comes to the real thing. In case you haven't figured it out by now, public speaking is NOT my greatest talent.

But GOD is faithful. My prayer and heart's desire is that somehow, his words will shine through. That people will see, not my shaking knees or shy face, but HIS heart somehow.

God is faithful.

P.S. Tomorrow I'm eating lunch at McAlister's Deli with my co-worker Caitlyn. One of my favorite people and one of my favorite restaurants -- good times. :o)

Hello there on this dreary Wednesday. Okay, so maybe not where you live, but here it's been kind of rainy, and definitely foggy, all day. That doesn't mean my mood needs to match, though. :o)

All in all, I'm doing well. Main thing is just that I'm getting ready to share at a missions conference at one of my supporting churches (my beloved college church :o))) and I just really need the Lord to give me HIS words.

I've been working on a powerpoint picture presentation that isn't quite together yet. Yeah ... I think I need to PRAY more and do less for the moment. Prayer changes things. My worrying doesn't. ;o)

Now I need to gather my things, meander on out of the office, and decide whether I'm going to the mid-week service at Calvary Chapel tonight. I think it would be nice to go. : )

Over the weekend I went and saw Pride and Prejudice at the dollar theater with my friend Sara. I like that movie. :o) We also got salads with buy one, get one free coupons at KFC. She liked the salad. I was glad. I even splurged and got a drink and popcorn at the movies. :o)

I also went to the game night with GFA folks on Friday night. We played "around the world" ping-pong, hung out, sang worship songs and classic hymns, just enjoyed everyone's company. Great times.

Then yesterday I worked a GFA booth at a convention, along with some others on staff. I was honestly a little apprehensive going into it, especially as I'd never done this before, but I had so much fun!!! Yesterday I also ate at Schlotsky's with my Sunday school group.

Today a couple of friends (my former roommates) and I hung out for one of our birthdays (not mine). :o) Now I'm tired. But overall, doing pretty well.

I had such a nice visit with my sister and brother-in-law.

They got here around 10:00, and I showed them around the office and introduced them to people. Then we crashed at my apartment for a little bit to chat, eat Skittles and watch just a little of Bride and Prejudice. :o)

After that we went to Chick-fila for lunch. Yum! I had the 8-pack nugget combo.

Soon I will go home, but tonight I am going to a game night for the young people at the office. Tomorrow I'm not up to much, but I do hope to work on what I'll be sharing for my college church's missions conference coming up very soon in March.

Happy Weekend!

This is my 310th post.

Overall, I had a good day. It passed relatively fast. I spent lunch break at my apartment, eating cranberry chicken, drinking a COKE from Quicktrip and picking up a little. Oh, and walking out on my balcony to enjoy the nice weather.

This morning, looking out the window in front of my desk, I saw some sea gulls flying around in circles. There were probably four or five of them, and they were so beautiful.

Tomorrow my sister and brother-in-law will be coming to see me. I'm excited! They'll be here for a couple of hours. It will be the first time they've seen the GFA office where I work, or my apartment. We'll also go grab lunch together. (There I go talking about food again! What can I say? :O)

Well I'm not writing much more because it's nice out and I want to go take a walk in that gorgeous weather. Next time.

It has been such nice weather today.

Today I learned the "E" and "A" chords on the guitar. That was fun! Guitar was one of those instruments I always wanted to learn when I was younger, but my mom discouraged me from because she said it would give me callouses on my hands. :oD

I want to play worship music on the guitar.

Last night I got a bunch done around the apartment. That was a good feeling. Thank You, Lord. I couldn't have done it without YOU enabling me!

I also worked on a web story today -- and that went very well. Well, I think I just might see if I can go take a quick walk in this beautiful weather. :O)

Until next time.

Today was a little chilly. But still a gorgeous day.

We just had carrot cake downstairs to send off a staff family that will be going our office in the UK. They fly out tomorrow! Hard to believe.

I'm fixing to head off for the apartment because at 6:30 I'm meeting with my friend Jaylie. We're going to see Yours, Mine and Ours at the dollar theater, and probably grabbing a bite to eat, too. :o) I'm looking forward to catching up with her and hearing her story of how she got engaged. She's getting married in July, I think.

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. It's also my half-birthday, meaning I'm "27 1/2". :o) And I could be sad because I don't have a "significant other" in my life. But I think I'd rather be happy because my good friend Carrie and I are going to lunch at Arby's and fellowshipping over some more of those delicious chicken salad sandwiches. (see last Thursday's entry) When she emailed me this morning about lunch, and I picked Tuesday, I wasn't even thinking about the fact that it was Valentine's Day--but that will definitely be a bright spot in my day. :oD

God is good.

It was a chilly but beautiful day.

I had my friend Marrie over for crockpot cranberry chicken. We also ate Breyers black raspberry chocolate, chatted and prayed for each other.

Then we went over to Erik's house for his 40th B-day celebration. I talked to people and also played outside with the kiddos. :O)

Tonight I had a house-warming party to go to for a guy from my church. It was so much fun! Lots of people were there. I especially hit it off with his cousin and her girls. We had shrimp, fajitas and other foods to nibble on.

I had a great time.

I am doing great.

Today during lunch I took a much-needed trip to the bank ... AND ate a delicious chicken salad sandwich at Arby's. :o) The nice thing? It's so HUGE I have half of it left for supper. (YAY!) That is, provided I don't forget it in the office refrigerator. In which case it would be tomorrow's lunch.

You know what? I probably never would have tried the chicken salad sandwich, were it not for my friend Kari. I tend to get in a rut when it comes to food, especially when I know I like a certain thing but am fearful of the unknown.

We were at lunch one time, and she and I ended up each getting a different sandwich and splitting them. So we each had half a chicken salad sandwich and half a turkey and swiss sandwich. And today, I've got to tell you, that chicken salad sandwich just melted in my mouth!

I think I've learned two things.

One: It's nice to have friends. Especially friends who encourage you to try new things.
Two: It pays to be adventurous ... to not be afraid to "risk" tasting the chicken salad sandwich for a change, instead of the turkey and swiss one you've been so accustomed to.

Okay, I'm going to go now before this becomes "Ode to the Chicken Salad Sandwich". Tonight I'm meeting up with some young people and others from the office, to fellowship together and pray for Tibetans. I look forward to that.

I just got back from going to Chili's with Tirina to hang out and have our weekly prayer time. We grab supper together once a month together as well, and this time we decided on Chili's. :o))

Our waiter was cool. You know how some servers are polite but you kind of know it's "put on" -- they're not really personable but just probably trying to get a good tip (or, at least you have a feeling they probably are?)? This guy was pretty personable, in a genuine way, which made the meal a fun experience.

For starters, our first introduction was when my friend was like, "Do you ever feel ...?" and he suddenly appeared from out of nowhere and said, "I feel that way all the time!" It was CLASSIC.
Then later, my friend and I were chatting, sharing prayer requests, and I saw her look behind me. Literally right behind me was his face, resting on a wall, and he was asking us a question. It was pretty funny.

Then when our meal was over, he was like, "Man, I wish I had a picture of my sister-in-law because you look exactly like her. "

Good times.

In general, how am I doing? I'm tired. But overall doing pretty well, I think. Ever feel like you just can't quite get it all together? Whatever "it" means. :oD I've been feeling like that at various times lately. Yet somehow I also feel encouraged.

I also am learning on a practical level that God's ways ... HIS perception of what my life should look like ... are not always what I would look at as the most comforting, emotionally reassuring or easiest. But yet I can trust Him, for His way is always best, regardless of my immediate circumstances or what I in my very limited perspective think. Not necessarily the most fun lesson to learn, but an exciting and very enriching lesson to be able to learn at the same time.

Praise God.

It's 4:00.

And I'm fixing to head out. Today's all-night prayer, which means we all can go home early. :o) Tomorrow I'm joining others on staff for a moving party. Those are fun -- we all get together and move people in, and it hardly takes any time!

The hawk is outside again. And it's gorgeous. Speaking of gorgeous, I hope to take me a walk in some of this gorgeous weather. It appears that we have missed out on winter ... at least thus far.

And I'm not complaining.

Earlier today I was thinking about how wonderful it is that God knows what He's doing. That He is in control and our lives are in His hands. How comforting, how encouraging.

"The LORD will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O LORD, endures forever; do not forsake the works of Your hands." --Psalm 138:8 (NKJV)

He is good.

Moments before I wrote this post, there was a big, beautiful hawk on the light-post right outside my office. I love all the birds God has blessed me with both here at the office and at my cozy apartment!

I DID get the cookies made. :o) I'm planning to bring some tomorrow to our staff's all night prayer as well.

My friend Nicole mentioned me again by name today on her blog -- that made me feel good! So, Nicole I'm returning the favor. :o) Too bad we're 12 hours from each other or we could go watch Pride and Prejudice tonight or something. Not to mention go to Chick-fila with my coupons -- you know ME! (hee hee)

Well, anyhow, as it's gorgeous outside and daylight is waning fast, I think I shall leave the office and perhaps take a short walk. Hasta la vista! (I can't remember exactly what that means in Spanish, but I think it refers to some kind of farewell greeting?)

To all my fellow bloggers, have a grand night and don't forget to smell the roses. Okay, I'm getting sillier and sillier. I REALLY must go now. :oD

Farewell.

I had a great night Monday night.

Felt in tune to the Lord and very encouraged. He totally brought together an article I was writing, too.

And I went to Panda Express and the people there told me my meal was free because of my "frequent punch" card. I wasn't going to complain. :o) I did try to tell the guy I thought I needed to buy one more meal before my free one (if I understood correctly) but he didn't seem to understand me.

Got to go now. Before I go to the Calvary Chapel midweek service, I'm hoping to maybe make some cookie dough so I can bring in a gift bag full of cookies for my supervisor. :o) (We are going to surprise him by singing Happy Birthday to him tomorrow, but, shhh ... don't tell him. :oD)

He has been a HUGE blessing in my life. I joke that I can bring him an article and in three seconds, he gives it the "magic touch" and it doesn't even have to be a lot of changes, but it looks so much more complete. I appreciate his warmth and laughter too!

Praise God. I have been thinking lately about the people I am privileged to work with here at the ministry. I think I can really take that for granted. Thinking about my good friend Nicole and the challenges she has at her workplace really makes me appreciate what I have here.