13 hours until my parents arrive in Orlando. I've spent the last 5 hours (plus many hours over the past few days) cooking, cleaning, organizing, baking, etc. I'm so ready to have a home full of family (even if it is just my parents, I think I can consider that full!!). Our Christmas tree is already up and I have a fridge full of Thanksgiving goodness plus other dinner items prepared for the week. Even better, I have homemade candy buckeyes (if you don't know what these are, you are seriously missing out), chocolate covered pretzels, chex mix, pumpkin cheesecake, and banana bread. It will be absolutely marvelous. I'm excited to spend some time with my parents just relaxing, watching football, shopping on Black Friday, watching Christmas movies, preparing dinner, EATING!!, enjoying the beautiful weather, visiting the Disney Parks with all of their holiday glory, and just conversing. This time has been much much much needed.
Anyway...all that stands between me and a beautiful 4 day weekend is a 10 mile run in about 5 hours and a few hours of work!
Safe travels for everyone over this holiday weekend :)
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Forgiveness
Forgiveness. Doesn't it seem so simple? You think about being a little kid...you get in a fight with a sibling or a friend, your parents make you say "I'm sorry" and then it's all done and over with, right? And really, it should be that easy...but I don't think it is. Not always. And especially not as we age and time passes. The hurt builds up and although we tell each other "I'm sorry" and "I forgive you" it seems as though we secretly keep score of how many times someone has wronged us. We say we forgive, but we feel the pain. We don't always know how to separate ourselves from the hurt although we try so hard to move on with the relationship (whatever form it is--friends, siblings, dating, family, etc.).
But then...it all changes--our perspective that is. When we open our Bible and begin to read, forgiveness begins to take on a different light. In Matthew 18:21-35, The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, we see the first servant, who is in more debt than can even be described, given complete pardon--a slate wiped completely clean. And then, we see him turning right around and refusing to give pardon to another servant who's debt is not nearly as great as his own. How painfully true that is in our own lives. Over and over and over again God pardons our sins. He completely forgives us and wipes clean the slate with absolutely no payment needed from us. And then what do we do? We turn to those who owe us and refuse to let it slide. We feel that we are owed. We do this with our forgiveness all the time. We don't want to fully forgive those who have hurt us. We may even go so far as to saying we have forgiven them, but is it ever completely wiped clean? No matter how hard we try, we are humans. We fail at all we do...including forgiveness. We are so incredibly in need of God's grace--even when it comes to just learning to forgive others.
And the real beauty of it all is that when we forgive those who have hurt us, we learn to trust the Lord and his Promise to provide all that we need. When we forgive those who have let us down and disappointed us, we see the Gospel come to life as we find fulfillment, hope, and joy in God's word. Each time we forgive, we are given the opportunity to turn to the Lord to fix the hurt, fill the void, provide for our needs---mostly, just to love us the way that we were designed to be loved and long to be loved. Because, after all, doesn't it seem that all forgiveness relates back to not feeling loved/appreciated/needed/cared for/etc. the way that we believe we deserve to be?
So the answer is, forgive. Forgive and Pray. Pray for the Lord to heal, to remove bitterness, and to provide. Pray that you will learn to trust that the Lord will provide all of these things because He will.
But then...it all changes--our perspective that is. When we open our Bible and begin to read, forgiveness begins to take on a different light. In Matthew 18:21-35, The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, we see the first servant, who is in more debt than can even be described, given complete pardon--a slate wiped completely clean. And then, we see him turning right around and refusing to give pardon to another servant who's debt is not nearly as great as his own. How painfully true that is in our own lives. Over and over and over again God pardons our sins. He completely forgives us and wipes clean the slate with absolutely no payment needed from us. And then what do we do? We turn to those who owe us and refuse to let it slide. We feel that we are owed. We do this with our forgiveness all the time. We don't want to fully forgive those who have hurt us. We may even go so far as to saying we have forgiven them, but is it ever completely wiped clean? No matter how hard we try, we are humans. We fail at all we do...including forgiveness. We are so incredibly in need of God's grace--even when it comes to just learning to forgive others.
And the real beauty of it all is that when we forgive those who have hurt us, we learn to trust the Lord and his Promise to provide all that we need. When we forgive those who have let us down and disappointed us, we see the Gospel come to life as we find fulfillment, hope, and joy in God's word. Each time we forgive, we are given the opportunity to turn to the Lord to fix the hurt, fill the void, provide for our needs---mostly, just to love us the way that we were designed to be loved and long to be loved. Because, after all, doesn't it seem that all forgiveness relates back to not feeling loved/appreciated/needed/cared for/etc. the way that we believe we deserve to be?
So the answer is, forgive. Forgive and Pray. Pray for the Lord to heal, to remove bitterness, and to provide. Pray that you will learn to trust that the Lord will provide all of these things because He will.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
GainesVegas Baby!
Yesterday I went to my second Gator game at THE SWAMP! First, I really really really love getting out of Orlando on the weekends. Maybe because I really don't like Orlando that much (have ya'll caught on to that yet?). So my friend Matt and I headed up to Gainesville yesterday morning to go to the UF/Citadel game. Obviously, we knew it was going to be an incredibly easy win for the Gators, but it was still a ton of fun! We stopped at Jess's apartment first and walked with Jess and Paisley (awww Paisels) to go get some lunch before Matt and I headed down to the stadium. Jess had to work on some homework so she met up with us at halftime. We left a little early from the game (in hopes to beat the crowd. ha, that didn't work) and then headed to Gators Dockside so Matt (a diehard Penn State Fan and Alum) could watch the rest of the PSU/MSU game. Of course, the Lions dominated that game too so it looks like they're Rose Bowl bound. Which hopefully means my Buckeyes are Capital One Bound...right here in ORLANDO!! Yes, I will be going and I will proudly be wearing Scarlet and Gray and my super awesome Buckeye necklace. Then, because I'm a great friend, Matt and I went to Burrito Brothers to get Ryan a burrito because he's obsessed with them. And then it was time to head home. I was exhausted after a great day.
Enjoy these lovely pictures from our fun day:
The super awesome Graffiti Wall.
Gator Chomp!!!
Matt's first game at The Swamp!!!
Now I'm trying to motivate myself to clean my apartment for my parents arrival in 3 days!!! (And let's hear it for 3 day work weeks!!).
Enjoy these lovely pictures from our fun day:
The super awesome Graffiti Wall.
Gator Chomp!!!
Matt's first game at The Swamp!!!
Now I'm trying to motivate myself to clean my apartment for my parents arrival in 3 days!!! (And let's hear it for 3 day work weeks!!).
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Homesick
I'm homesick. It's true. I'll admit it. I have weaknesses. I need my family. I can't do it all on my own. I've realized how much I miss my parents and even my sisters. I want to see my nieces. I wish I was there for their Birthdays and their tball games and their school plays. I want to be an aunt they actually know for more than sending them gifts in the mail. It's hard to be away. But at the same time, I feel called. I feel that God is calling me to be somewhere...maybe not here (Oh I hope definitely not here forever) but somewhere that maybe isn't so close to my family. So this time of homesickness has been hard. Really hard. I'm not afraid to say that many nights I end up in tears thinking about how much I miss home and my family and my friends and all that is familiar and "safe". But I know that God has blessed me with incredible friends, a great church family, wonderful experiences and I'm learning with each and every day to rely on him more and more. I'm giving things over to him more and more because I can't do it on my own. I'm so incredibly incapable and when I let God handle it, it always always always turns out better. So maybe my homesickness is more than just a homesickness for home with my family. I think it's God teaching me to be trusting of him and his will. He's teaching me to fall more and more in love with him. And I love that feeling of being so wrapped in the grace and peace of Christ.
Okay I'm beginning to ramble.
Okay I'm beginning to ramble.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Life Recap
I keep putting off writing a real post because I have so much to write about that I can't decide which to write about first. So instead, I'll recap it all, here, in this post. And then if you want to know more, email/call/text/facebook me.
Running--It's been going well. I'm trying to avoid burnout, but I'm sure it's happening. I really really think this marathon will be my last for a while. I'm going to try to stick with just 1/2 marathons after that. Training just seems to be consuming my every thought and all my time. Today, though, I had a really good run. My long run was 16 miles and I was running with my running buddy, John. The weather was beautiful this morning--nice and cool and then when we got to around mile 12, we were running by a small lake when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. It was an otter!! It was only a few feet away and it jumped in the lake and swam around and then came back up on the shore and kept looking at us (we had stopped to look at it for a minute) and then it jumped back in the lake. It was so cute!! Also, I ran a 10k last weekend and I got my PR!! I was excited to see that despite what it feels like sometimes, I am improving and all the miles are paying off!
Football--I went to my very first Florida Gator football game yesterday (Against South Carolina and Steve Spurrier!!). It was an amazing experience!! We had 50 yard line seats and the game was really really good (despite the rain). I'm going again this weekend to see the UF/Citadel game. Very excited!
Here's a picture of Ryan and I from the game:
Gainesville--Ryan and I went up Friday night before the game to stay with Jess so we could hang out for a bit. I laughed so stinkin' hard at both of them. Saturday morning Jess told me she'd go running with me so we set out on our run...and lasted about 6 mins before we decided to walk. But then I got a nice tour of campus from Jess instead. It was great. And this might have been the funniest things from our hour long walk:
(Walking through campus as people are already tailgating):
Kristi: Aww, I wish I looked cute right now so the guys would hit on us.
*About 30 seconds pass*
Random Guy: Hey girls!
Jess: Heyyyyy! (then kind of whispering) if you're talking to us.
Kristi: Jess, I think he was Hispanic
Jess: Omigosh, we have to go back and find out!
Hahaha sooo funny. My other favorite conversation:
Jess: (coming out of the kitchen with a box) Guys, I've really been craving some coffee cake lately, so I went to the grocery and bought a box Krusteaz (as she prounces it Crusty Ass).
Ryan: Uh Jess, that's German and it's pronounced Krusteaz (and he prounces it the right way).
Jess: Ooooooh, I really thought it was prounced Crusty Ass.
Later we told the story to Ryan's parents and his dad proceeds to tell Jess, "It's times like these that I worry about you, Jess" Hahaha.
St. Augustine--Fawn and I went on a random daytrip last weekend to St. Augustine. Neither of us had every been there before and we both wanted to go to the Fountain of Youth, so we decided to go for the day! It was sooo much fun. We went on a trolley tour around the city and saw a bunch of touristy things before stopping at the Fountain of Youth where we had the most disgusting water ever. But now we both feel much more youthful. Much. We also went on a Haunted Ghost Tour that night which was soooo much fun! It was about really interesting historical stuff, too. We're hoping to go back again because there was a lot of stuff we wanted to do that we just didn't have time for. Here's a picture from our day:
Baking-I've been in the mood to bake a lot lately! I think it comes with the holidays. I made pumpking cookies with carmel frosting (one of my favorites!) a couple of weeks ago. This past week a tried a new recipe I found on the internet for Sweet Potatoe Zuchinni Bread. It was AMAZING! And it was soooo easy to make! Hopefully I'll get to make some more soon! I'm working on compiling a list of ingredients for Thanksgiving right now, though. My parents are coming here for Thanksgiving so I'm cooking! I'm excited. It'll be nice to see them and just relax and spend time with them. Anyway, here's a picture of my yummy bread (and I promise you, it was soooo yummy):
Music-Omigosh can we talk about all the new songs I'm obsessed with as of recent? Seriously, this should be a blog in itself. Then again, if you've been following my twitter you'd already know all of my new favorite obsessions. But here they are anyway:
"Come on Get Higher" -- Matt Nathanson
"Black Keys" -- Andy Black
"Beautiful Life" -- Fisher
"Be Be Your Love" -- Rachel Yamagata
And in a week, Rachel and I are going to see OneRepublic and Augustana in concert. This would be the 3rd time I've seen both of them this year!! I love, love, loooove these two bands. Especially live! And I'm excited to hang out with Rachel!
Church-I absolutely love my church family. I honestly believe that the highlights of my week are Sunday and Monday evenings. Church is on Sunday evenings (soon to be mornings in January!) and City Group is on Monday evenings. I'm just really enjoying getting to know the people of the church, getting more involved, and feeling like part of a family. It's been a real struggle for me here in Orlando at times to feel at home and I finally found where I feel at home. If I could spend my entire week giving, connecting, helping, etc. at this church, I would. I really believe in their mission and believe that God is doing great things through City Church.
Okay, so that's all for now. Basically the gist is that life is busy and chaotic and wonderful and good and stressful and crazy all at the same time. And I've never felt more of a need to rest in the love of my Savior and more loved by my Savior. I'll tell you more about that if you're ever interested!
Running--It's been going well. I'm trying to avoid burnout, but I'm sure it's happening. I really really think this marathon will be my last for a while. I'm going to try to stick with just 1/2 marathons after that. Training just seems to be consuming my every thought and all my time. Today, though, I had a really good run. My long run was 16 miles and I was running with my running buddy, John. The weather was beautiful this morning--nice and cool and then when we got to around mile 12, we were running by a small lake when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. It was an otter!! It was only a few feet away and it jumped in the lake and swam around and then came back up on the shore and kept looking at us (we had stopped to look at it for a minute) and then it jumped back in the lake. It was so cute!! Also, I ran a 10k last weekend and I got my PR!! I was excited to see that despite what it feels like sometimes, I am improving and all the miles are paying off!
Football--I went to my very first Florida Gator football game yesterday (Against South Carolina and Steve Spurrier!!). It was an amazing experience!! We had 50 yard line seats and the game was really really good (despite the rain). I'm going again this weekend to see the UF/Citadel game. Very excited!
Here's a picture of Ryan and I from the game:
Gainesville--Ryan and I went up Friday night before the game to stay with Jess so we could hang out for a bit. I laughed so stinkin' hard at both of them. Saturday morning Jess told me she'd go running with me so we set out on our run...and lasted about 6 mins before we decided to walk. But then I got a nice tour of campus from Jess instead. It was great. And this might have been the funniest things from our hour long walk:
(Walking through campus as people are already tailgating):
Kristi: Aww, I wish I looked cute right now so the guys would hit on us.
*About 30 seconds pass*
Random Guy: Hey girls!
Jess: Heyyyyy! (then kind of whispering) if you're talking to us.
Kristi: Jess, I think he was Hispanic
Jess: Omigosh, we have to go back and find out!
Hahaha sooo funny. My other favorite conversation:
Jess: (coming out of the kitchen with a box) Guys, I've really been craving some coffee cake lately, so I went to the grocery and bought a box Krusteaz (as she prounces it Crusty Ass).
Ryan: Uh Jess, that's German and it's pronounced Krusteaz (and he prounces it the right way).
Jess: Ooooooh, I really thought it was prounced Crusty Ass.
Later we told the story to Ryan's parents and his dad proceeds to tell Jess, "It's times like these that I worry about you, Jess" Hahaha.
St. Augustine--Fawn and I went on a random daytrip last weekend to St. Augustine. Neither of us had every been there before and we both wanted to go to the Fountain of Youth, so we decided to go for the day! It was sooo much fun. We went on a trolley tour around the city and saw a bunch of touristy things before stopping at the Fountain of Youth where we had the most disgusting water ever. But now we both feel much more youthful. Much. We also went on a Haunted Ghost Tour that night which was soooo much fun! It was about really interesting historical stuff, too. We're hoping to go back again because there was a lot of stuff we wanted to do that we just didn't have time for. Here's a picture from our day:
Baking-I've been in the mood to bake a lot lately! I think it comes with the holidays. I made pumpking cookies with carmel frosting (one of my favorites!) a couple of weeks ago. This past week a tried a new recipe I found on the internet for Sweet Potatoe Zuchinni Bread. It was AMAZING! And it was soooo easy to make! Hopefully I'll get to make some more soon! I'm working on compiling a list of ingredients for Thanksgiving right now, though. My parents are coming here for Thanksgiving so I'm cooking! I'm excited. It'll be nice to see them and just relax and spend time with them. Anyway, here's a picture of my yummy bread (and I promise you, it was soooo yummy):
Music-Omigosh can we talk about all the new songs I'm obsessed with as of recent? Seriously, this should be a blog in itself. Then again, if you've been following my twitter you'd already know all of my new favorite obsessions. But here they are anyway:
"Come on Get Higher" -- Matt Nathanson
"Black Keys" -- Andy Black
"Beautiful Life" -- Fisher
"Be Be Your Love" -- Rachel Yamagata
And in a week, Rachel and I are going to see OneRepublic and Augustana in concert. This would be the 3rd time I've seen both of them this year!! I love, love, loooove these two bands. Especially live! And I'm excited to hang out with Rachel!
Church-I absolutely love my church family. I honestly believe that the highlights of my week are Sunday and Monday evenings. Church is on Sunday evenings (soon to be mornings in January!) and City Group is on Monday evenings. I'm just really enjoying getting to know the people of the church, getting more involved, and feeling like part of a family. It's been a real struggle for me here in Orlando at times to feel at home and I finally found where I feel at home. If I could spend my entire week giving, connecting, helping, etc. at this church, I would. I really believe in their mission and believe that God is doing great things through City Church.
Okay, so that's all for now. Basically the gist is that life is busy and chaotic and wonderful and good and stressful and crazy all at the same time. And I've never felt more of a need to rest in the love of my Savior and more loved by my Savior. I'll tell you more about that if you're ever interested!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
1/2 Buckeye / 1/2 Gator
I may be the only Buckeye and Gator fan in the country. And I'm alright with that. (Of course, if there's a Buckeye/Gator match up again...Buckeyes trump Gators). Anyway, I'm very very excited because I'm going to my very first Gator game this weekend!!! Yes, I'll be at The Swamp on Saturday dressed in my Gator Gear! Annnd, I'm going to the game next weekend too!! How exciting!!
Annnd, my dad and I are crossing our fingers that OSU will be playing in the Capital One Bowl here in Orlando on New Years Day!! Dad is already looking up flights to Orlando in hopes that we can go to the game together. How great would that be?!?
Soooo, here's to hoping I get to see 3 college football games this season!! Ahhh I love College Football!! :)
GO GATORS!! :)
Annnd, my dad and I are crossing our fingers that OSU will be playing in the Capital One Bowl here in Orlando on New Years Day!! Dad is already looking up flights to Orlando in hopes that we can go to the game together. How great would that be?!?
Soooo, here's to hoping I get to see 3 college football games this season!! Ahhh I love College Football!! :)
GO GATORS!! :)
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
GOING HOME!
It's official. I'll be home for Christmas. A whole week!! Of course, I have to work a couple of the days I'm home, but still! I'll be able to have dinner with my family in the evenings, watch Christmas movies, make Christmas cookies, spend time with friends. Just enjoy being around the people I love again. Looking forward to being home for the week...I haven't been home to my home in Ohio for an entire week since...well...uh...December 2006? Sometimes it's hard growing up and moving away...
In any case, Christmas is gearing up at Disney. I love the holidays!!
In any case, Christmas is gearing up at Disney. I love the holidays!!
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