My Felicity Addiction is Back...

I'm addicted to "Felicity" again. Gosh. Another good quote.

"I'm a firm believer in the power of change. But there is one thing I've learned. And that is the hardest part about moving forward is not looking back."

My Celebrity Sighting

It's not often that I have Celebrity Sightings...well, if ever. But tonight was a great night for celebrity sightings. I was hanging out in Downtown Orlando with a group of friends. We were at a bar/lounge in one of the hotels that plays jazz music on the weekends. As we walked through the bar area, our one friend said "That guy in the corner looks like Lebron James." So we walked back by again when some other people in the bar confirmed it. It was indeed Lebron. And later, some other Cavs players showed up as well. Too bad I'm not a huge Cleveland Cavs fan. Nevertheless, it was still a fun sighting.

You just never know what's going to happen in Orlando. Life's exciting, eh? :)

Good Friend, Good Weekend

One of my absolute favorite people came into town this past weekend for some much needed friend time. I don't really have the energy to go through everything we did, but I'll hit the highlights. Regardless of the rain, Katie and I still had a great time and I always enjoy conversation with her.

So, our weekend highlights included:

• Rented Slumdog Millionaire. AMAZING movie.
  
• Shopping spree at Ann Taylor Loft Outlet. I always spend far too much money when I'm shopping with her. And typically it ends up being at Ann Taylor Loft. And this time, it started POURING rain right after we walked in, so we figured we might as well hang out for a while in the store. Bad move :)
• DisneyQuest. It was raining on Friday night still and I had free tickets to DisneyQuest so Katie, Ryan, and I hit up DisneyQuest. The pirate game was really fun!!
• BEACH!!! We took a chance and headed towards the Gulf on Saturday for some beach time. It rained on the way there and on the way home, but not while we were at the beach for about 3 1/2 hours. It was perfect. We went to Caladesi Island State Park which was absolutely gorgeous. You have to pay to take a ferry to the island, but it was totally worth it. We saw a bunch of dolphin even!!
• American Idol Experience Finale Show. After we got back Saturday night from the beach we went to Disney's Hollywood Studios to see the AIE Finale Show. I had seen some of the other shows and liked it but hadn't seen the Finale show. The Finale show is soooo much fun. 7 people sang and we got to vote on our favorite! It was really fun. But when we came out of the show it was DOWNPOURING....AGAIN!! Luckily, we had umbrellas and were able to make our way to the car more dry than others.
• Bike riding in Celebration! We rode bikes around Celebration twice and saw sooo many animals. We saw gators, a snake, a bunch of random birds, squirrels, ducks, turtles, etc. (Of course, it wasn't until after Katie left on Monday when I was out riding bikes again that I saw THREE otters!!!)

Really it was just nice to have one of my best friends around for a few days. Of course I was sad when she left. It's always hard for me when an Ohio friend leaves. I wish I could just call and meet up for dinner, but I suppose the occasional weekend trip will have to suffice. I'm blessed and thankful to have such great friends both in Ohio and here (and of course many other places, too!!!).

While Katie was here, though, we started talking about our trip to Ireland next summer. We came up with the idea about a year ago that we would go to Ireland after Katie finished her Masters degree. I'm so excited!!! We also decided that next time instead of Katie coming to visit me, we would meet up in a cool city and do some exploring. I do believe that Austin or Nasvhille is at the top of our list. What can I say, we like music a bit :) In the meantime, I'm looking forward to my trip to Columbus over Labor Day Weekend--just in time for the first Ohio State Football game of the season. GO BUCKEYES!

Parachute, VA

Rebekah and I hit up House of Blues on Sunday night to see Parachute, VA. Tickets were cheap and we had both commented recently how much we liked their single "She is Love" so we decided to go. Doors opened at 6:00 and with our previous experiences at HOB, things get pretty crowded before the doors open so if you want to get a good spot you have to be there early. Rebekah was interested in seeing one of the openers (InPassing from Orlando and Southside Serenade from Tampa were the openers), so we decided to get there at 5:30 to get in line. Like usual, I was running late, so when I arrived at 5:50 I saw absolutely nobody in line and was worried that they had started letting people in already and I had left Rebekah stranded. I found Rebekah and she said they hadn't opened the doors yet and nobody was around...hmmm.

They opened the doors at 6 and there were literally only about 30 people there. We watched both of the openers who were both very good. I particularly liked Southside Serenade. They were fun and full of energy. Finally, Parachute came onstage and there were more people in the concert hall by then, but still not very full at all. Parachute was absolutely INCREDIBLE. Extremely talented. They played my favorite songs "She is Love" and "Under Control". They also did a fantastic cover of Billy Joel's "Movin Out" and one of the band members played the sax. It was incredible. I would compare their sound to that of OneRepublic. I definitely enjoyed the concert and would have definitely listened to them cover some more songs. I'm looking forward to hearing them again. Anyway, right now their single "Under Control" is the free download on iTunes (probably only until tomorrow). Tomorrow their new album comes out on iTunes. Definitely check it out. They are quality. Check out their myspace if you want to get a preview of their sound. I promise you, you won't be disappointed.

Concerts

I realized the other day that I've been to a lot of concerts and I thought I should make a list of all the people/bands I've seen perform. So here's my list. Most of it has expanded since moving to Florida (having more money and time makes that possible!), but I had a pretty good Ohio list too (although that covers the first 21 years of my life compared to the last 2 1/2 years here in Florida). Plus, I've seen a bunch of artists just by working events such as Night of Joy and Grad Nite at Disney, so I broke that list out separately. I don't necessarily have a favorite artist, but I do think that Augustana is one of my absolute favorite bands to see live. They're incredible. And Matt Wertz and Dave Barnes touring/performing together is also pretty amazing. Anyways...here's my list. I'll also be adding Parachute, Rascal Flatts, and possibly Eric Hutchinson to this list soon. And check out my "Would Love to See" list at the bottom.

Florida Concerts (Past 2 1/2 years)
Augustana (3 times)
Counting Crows
John Mayer
Matt Wertz (3 times)
Dave Barnes (2 times)
The Gabe Dixon Band
Matt Costa
Ra Ra Riot
Death Cab for Cutie
Between the Trees
Ingrid Michaelson
Greg Laswell
Rookie of the Year
One Republic (2 times)
Maroon 5
Jars of Clay
Leeland
Flickerstick
Jon McLaughlin
Indelible Grace/Matthew Smith
Sara Groves
Sixpence None the Richer
Taylor Swift
Five Times August


Night of Joy/Rock the Universe/Grad Nite Concerts
The Fray
Cartel
Mark Schultz
Steven Curtis Chapman
Third Day
Sanctus Real
Relient K
Leeland
David Crowder Band
newsboys (2 times)
Stellar Kart
Brian Littrell
Chris Tomlin
Switchfoot
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

Concerts in Ohio
Jeremy Camp
MercyMe
Amy Grant (2 times)
Point of Grace (2 times)
Matthew West
Sanctus Real
Joy Williams
Ari Hest
Dave Matthews Band
Red Wanting Blue
Mannheim Steamroller
Transiberian Orchestra
Michael W. Smith
The Pool Boys
Steve Fee Band

Would love to see
Neko Case
The New Pornographers
Jason Mraz
Priscilla Ahn
Rilo Kiley
Matt Nathanson
The Avett Brothers
Brooke Fraser
Coldplay (tickets are always so dang expensive!!)
Derek Webb
Michael Buble
Josh Kelley
Regina Spektor
The Script
Tristan Prettyman
Vampire Weekend

Book Review/Higher Education Opinions

I have an interest in higher education. Maybe it's because I thoroughly enjoyed my college years and can see now how formative they were for me. Or maybe it's because my mom has spent the past (approximately) 8 years in various roles in the college forum (both in faculty and staff positions). I think it's a mixture of both. My grandfather was an educator as well and continuing education has been instilled in me as something valued and important, but I also had incredible collegiate experience where I participated in every possible area of activity during my 4 years (theater, admissions work, cross country, student activities, residence life, alumni relations, student government, orientation, campus ministry, etc.).

With that background in mind, I've found myself drawn to reading books concerning issues in higher education more and more lately. It started when I picked up the book "God's Harvard: A Christian College on a Mission to Save America" by Hanna Rosin. The book was intriguing to me as Washington Post writer, Hanna Rosin relayed her experiences interacting with students at Patrick Henry College oustide Washington D.C. over the time period of a year. The book talked about the battles that a Conservative Liberal Arts School (it seems almost impossible to place the words "conservative" and "liberal" next to each other in a sentence and have them make sense, huh?) faces in the present day as it tries to produce the next generation of conservative Christian political leaders. Rosin did a great job laying out the facts as unbiased as she could, and I certainly developed my own opinion of Patrick Henry College, but mostly, the book just made me crave more knowledge about the higher education realm and current issues facing the education system.

I walked into my local public library branch recently looking for another book to read. I wasn't on a mission to find a book about higher education, I just wanted something to read while I was at the gym. I came across a book called "No Right to Remain Silent: The Tragedy at Virginia Tech" by Lucinda Roy. This book seemed particulary interesting to me as it pertained to an issue that's becoming increasingly important among college (and k-12) campuses, plus, the tragedy affected some friends extremely close to me. I picked up the book a little bit unsure as to what to expect, but have found myself realizing that there's a whole world of education issues out there that have no clear solution. Roy wrote this book because she felt that after the Tech Tragedy, communication was not clear and people were, in many cases, not cooperating with efforts to uncover what may have motivated Cho to go on this tragic killing spree. Administrators were afraid of being blamed, laws were unclear as to what records could and couldn't be realeased, and faculty and staff weren't sure who they were allowed to speak with (media, law enforcement, administration, etc) or if they were allowed to speak at all. She decided to write the book in an effort to uncover truths that will hopefully lead us to learnings and solutions as to how we can take steps to prevent other tragedies like this from happening again, and to identify areas in the higher education system that are in desperate need of evaluation and change.

I think one of the things that has become most clear to me through reading this book is that our education system has so much responsibility placed on it and nearly the amount of funding needed to fulfill these responsibilities. The university realm is expected to act as everything to every student--parent, nurturer, educator, counselor, etc., but funds are constantly being cut from the education realm. I look at my own mom and see how many additional responsibilities she's had to assume in her position--serving on multiple boards, heading up multiple student service areas (such as tutoring services), hiring and training new student workers every year, assisting with research trips, and of course, teaching classes. And all along she is expected to give every student individual attention. How do we expect our educators to do that when they're wearing so many different hats? Roy's certainly not saying that Cho's act of violence could have been prevented simply by providing him with more attention and guidance, but it's definitely a wake up call to the need for more faculty and staff to better serve our students. If we continue to press upon adolescence the need for a college education and colleges continue to pride themselves on larger and larger incoming classes, then we need to look at the funding for these institutions. We need to be sure that there is adequate staffing (in all areas--faculty, staff, and administration).

The second thing that has really stuck out to me in this book is the number of gray areas there are when it comes to politics. Of course, after the tragedy many people felt that the solution was to eliminate guns. If we got rid of guns, these things would never happen. Of course, that point of view received huge opposition from the NRA, but the NRA's stance for minimal gun control may not be the right stance either. Cho, who had a troubled psychological background, had to undergo absolutely no background check to receive his 2 guns because he purchased them through an online loophole. As for his ammunition...it was easily purchased at Wal-Mart, Dick's Sporting Goods, and on eBay. Doesn't this seem alarming? Of course, there are plenty of people who own guns who are perfectly responsible, harmless individuals. We can't take away the right to bear arms simply because of a few people's irresponsibility and rage. However, I think this is a huge eye opener to us to see that issues such as gun control aren't black and white issues. If we are going to find a solution as to how to minimize tragedies such as this one, then both sides are going to need to learn to give a little. In all of politics, we need to be willing to come to the table leaving all personal motives and hidden agendas behind.

I could keep writing for a while on many of the issues Roy discusses in her book. She doesn't claim to know the answers. It seems as though she is simply just trying to open a forum for discussion. I would definitely recommending reading this book if you have any interest in higher education, politics, current events, etc. It's certainly been very thought provoking for me.

Cryptic

This post is going to seem very cryptic to most everyone who reads it, so I'm sorry in advance.

I'm so frustrated to not have calls, emails, and texts returned. I thought things were better...I thought we had come so far. And I'm disappointed that throughout all of this we're unable to be honest with each other. It hurts to lose touch with people....more than once. This one hurts the most...

Ugh...I need to go pray.

Music, music, music...

...if only I could create a soundtrack for my life. Have music playing all the time, like a movie.

Anyhow, I have some fantastic music recommendations. Please check out the following:

Priscilla Ahn
Matt Costa
Ra Ra Riot
The Avett Brothers

That's all I have to write...well, except for that I really miss Ohio...a lot...and I want to be there...a lot.

Let me know how you like my recommendations. And leave some music recommendations for me if you'd like. Thanks.

PS--Happy Mother's Day, Mom. You know I wish I could have been there to spend the day with you. I love you and am so proud of everything you've accomplished. I'm lucky to have you as my mom. Hope your day was special.

Opinion Wanted: Tithing

Okay friends (and all of you unidentified readers). It's time to give me your opinion. Here's the topic: tithing.

I've become more and more convicted lately that tithing should not only be 10% of your income, but 10% of your Gross income. Yeah, Gross Income. I know that seems like a lot of money sometimes, but here's my reasoning. It's all God's money. Not just 10% of it, but 100% of it. Ultimately, he could decide to take it away whenever he wishes. We are just stewards or managers of his money. So, I think we should look at it as God giving us 90% of his money rather than us giving God 10% of his money. Besides, when it comes down to it, I think that we're all pretty careless in our spending. Sure, there are situations when people have trouble making ends meet and giving 10% of take home pay, let alone Gross pay, seems impossible. But I think that's when we need to fully submit to Christ and trust that He will provide for our every need.

Anyways, I'd like to hear what you all have to say. Even if it's disagreeing with me. I think it's utterly important to constantly be dialoguing about these sort of topics as we, as Christians, walk in faith. We often avoid the controversial topics because we don't want to offend others, but really, talking about them is the only way to continue to grow and learn. So tell me your thoughts. Do you thinking tithing is 10% of your take home pay? 10% of your Gross income? Or just what you "think" you can give? (I put this in quotes because honestly we can always give more than we really think we can).

I expect responses, ya'll.... :)

Yum!

So my friend Melanie has a great blog where she posts recipes that she's tried and love. I'm definitely not nearly the cook/baker she is, but when given the time, I can cook up something good. Anyways, I saw on her blog a quick and easy recipe for Baked Potato & Broccoli soup. It looked so good so I decided to give it a try. It really was super easy and very very delicious! It made quite a bit of soup, too, so I had plenty left over for lunch this week and some to freeze for meals later on, too. The recipe is below, but I found that you don't necessarily need to measure the potatoes or onions out precisely. I definitely had more than 3 cups potatoes and the onion I used was at least a medium size and it was perfect. Like Melanie's recipe I used frozen broccoli and it worked perfectly. I also used corn starch instead of flour, but after googling corn starch vs. flour I found that when you substitute corn starch, use 1/2 the amount. This Joy of Baking site is a great resource for substitutions.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

¼ cup all-purpose flour (I substituted corn starch which worked well)

2 (14.5 oz) cans low sodium, fat-free chicken broth, divided

3 cups peeled, cubed potatoes (about 1.25 lbs)

2 cups broccoli florets, chopped (Using frozen broccoli was fine)

1 small onion, chopped

1 ¼ cups 2% reduced fat milk (I used skim)

1 (8 oz) block 2% reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

2% reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese, shredded, for topping (optional)

chopped green onions for topping (optional)

Freshly ground pepper (to taste)

Salt (to taste)

Whisk together flour and 1/3 cup chicken broth until smooth.

Combine remaining chicken broth, potatoes, broccoli and onion in a Dutch oven (or large saucepan). Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 8 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Gradually stir in flour mixture. Cook, stirring often, 5 minutes.

Stir in milk & 8 oz. of freshly shredded cheese. Cook mixture over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until cheese melts. Add salt & pepper to taste. Top each serving of soup with shredded cheese and green onions as desired.

**It is recommended to use fresh shredded cheese for creaminess and even melting.