eerhT elttiL sraeB

.... Continued.....

to speak very quickly in a foreign language. The B-team had no clue what she was saying. Blade thought about interrupting her, but she was so animated when she talked that he decided to let her go, plus he saw something shiny in the ground and got distracted. Luckily for our heroes, Mace was trained in "fake understanding"; a trait that few master. So Leslie talked on and on and Mace expertly wielded his fake smiles, head nods and raised eyebrows with flair. He even threw in a couple "hmmm.... you don't say..." comments just for good measure. He was good.

Suddenly Leslie paused, looked franticly around, and quietly asked in English, "So will you be able to help me?" Arlo jumped in with "Of course! We're experts!" With a quiet "thankyou" Leslie ran out the door and disappeared.

"So what do we do now?" Mace asked.

"I thought you knew!" The General roared!

"How am I supposed to know... I don't speak that language she was babbling in!" Soon the B-team was in a heated argument over how they are supposed to help Leslie if they didn't even know what her problem was.

Finally Blade ended the argument with, "Well I think she is a drama queen and until we figure this out we should go...

....To be continued.....

Google Me

So I just tried a google search for my blog. Totally found it.

If you google "Andi Candi Land" you get my blog and if you google "old comfy shoes" you can find me on page 4 of the google search. I know that that's not much. But it's a start. Watch out world, here I come!

Woop Woop!

Punkin Treasures

My cousin brought a pumpkin dessert to our family Thanksgiving dinner today. My uncle was eating a piece and suddenly discovered a treasure in his dessert. Was it more pumpkin? A coin? An action figure? No. It was a paper clip. My mom soon found two paper clips in her piece. Yes. Not only was this dessert tasty but it also contained office supply treasures.

There are two theories as to how the paper clips got in the food.

1. My cousin's small children threw them in while "helping" their parents bake.

2. My cousin's husband inadvertently threw them in the flour container, mistaking it for the "junk" container sitting next to it.

Either way it was pretty dang funny.

What treasures did you find in your Thanksgiving food?

I found a muffler in the pound cake.

'Tis The Season.... To Steal?

I had a very nice Thanksgiving. I got to play bubbles with my wonderful 5-year old cousin, Evan. He renamed me Ambrea and Ambi because "it sounded funnier." I love Evan; he gets my sarcasm. We got in an argument over who was to blame for the bubbles spilling. He finally decided that he would take the blame because "Grandma likes him better". Whatever. She loves me too.

I got to move into my new room. It is great. I'll try and get some pictures of my new dresser on here. I repainted this one as well and I love it.

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I am one of those crazy people who went shopping the day after Thanksgiving. Don't worry, I took my pepper spray. The only thing on my list to get was a comforter to match my new room! While Amberly and I were shopping my trunk apparently made a pact with the devil and decided to pop open. We were informed of this by a nice young man who stuck half of his body out the window of a moving vehicle to waved and scream at us. Too funny.

To further seal the deal with satan, the traitorous trunk would not shut. No amount of slamming, yelling, or jimmy-rigging would shut the trunk. Fine. I got some twine at Target, folded my seats down, climbed into the trunk and tied that trunk down. (I also got my comforter - it was so beautiful!)

We went to eat and to the mall and then realized that the trunk wasn't tied down anymore. Did the twine break? Oh no. Some nice person cut the twine and stole my comforter.

Merry Christmas to you too.

Maybe it was a homeless person who needed a blanket. A homeless man did steal Amberly's sub sandwich out of her car.... If that is the case, I hope it keeps them warm. Otherwise, anyone else will find out soon enough that Target doesn't accept returns without a receipt. Mwahaha.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

All Eyes On You

No matter what kind of person you are, people watch you. You may be shy, outgoing, quiet, loud, wallpaper, or the center of attention, it doesn't matter. People will always notice something about you. Sociologists say that even the most introverted person will influence 10,000 people in an average lifetime. Holy Cow! That's a whole lot of pressure to be a positive influence.

I was recently made aware of the number of people who watch me in a setting that I didn't think I was really noticed. Bump the pressure up a notch. Not only that, but they talk about me. Not in a gossipy way, but in a guess-what-goofy-thing-Andi-did way. Kick the pressure up two more notches.

I don't mean to say this in an arrogant people-always-pay-attention-to-me kind of way. Not at all. Everyone gets noticed, whether you believe it or not; you are influencing the people around you.

To be honest, this attention scares me. I am called to set an example in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity for fellow believers. People are to see Christ in me by my love. That's a heavy call. A scary call. A humbling call. It reminds me to always check what example I am setting.

What example are you setting?

I'm Back

I am sorry for the lack of posting in the last week. It was finals week and this weeked I have been working on getting my new room ready to move into. Yes. That's right. After an entire lifetime of sharing a room, I get my own. Right before I graduate and move out. Oh well....

10 Reason Why This Past Week Was Good:

1. I got to study more for my econ final. (Thank you hurt neck)

2. This week our spin-off company at work sold its first unit! We all worked really hard to get this company up and going and it was exciting to know we were able to sell things the first couple of days we were open.

3. Let me just say that the movie The Incredibles is the best movie ever! I laughed until I cried. Go watch it.

4. My boss asked me if I would "entertain an offer to work there full-time after I graduate." Woop Woop!

5. A really neat opportunity at school opened up. More later....

6. I got to give and see several sock puppet shows.

7. Swing Dancing. I only kicked 2 guys and didn't step on any toes but I did spin my elbow into one guy's stomach. Spoo.

8. I am getting my own room.

9. I got a message from a friend who had just inhaled helium. Funniest message ever.

10. Sunday Nap.


3 Reason Why This Past Week Was Bad:

1. I hurt my neck.

2. My car died several times. (But my dad fixed it!)

3. I haven't spent enough time in the Word. And now I am grumpy. Bleh.


So all in all. You didn't really miss a whole lot while I was gone. So you can go back to doing whatever you do when you aren't reading blogs. I am sure it is way more interesting.

I Am Such A Baby

Ok. So I was a baby when I was sick, but I thought - "Hey. At least I'm not a baby when it comes to pain. I can handle that."

Not so much.

Today I threw out my neck and pulled a million and seventeen muscles. Instead of sucking it up and walking it off (Like I would have told everyone else to do), I rescheduled my final, called into work, rushed to the doctor and then curled up on the couch.

I do have company though. Toi, our raccoon warrior, is really old and I think he is dying. We are both sleeping the day away.

And I ate two ice cream sandwhiches. Yum. I just wish they would have better things on daytime TV. Do people really watch this stuff?

Oh wait. Perry just left Kelly for Veronica but Perry may be related to one of them and still has that murder rap to deal with. I gotta go.

Mental Goalie

My wonderful friend, Tamara, introduced me to the phrase "mental goalie". Everyone has a mental goalie - it is what stops you from saying things you shouldn't say.

You know those times when you catch yourself right before you say something that you shouldn't say? Well your mental goalie just made a great catch. Then there are those times when you say something and immediately realize that you should have just kept your mouth shut. Your mental goalie let the ball through. Then there are other times when your mental goalie makes a catch, and you tackle that goalie and walk the ball through on your own. I do that all the time.

The other day I told a friend that his hair looked like the sticky side of velcro. I knew that wasn't a nice thing to say and even though his hair looked really nice, I tackled my goalie and vocalized the comparison. Stupid play on my part.

Everyone's mental goalie is in constant need of training. Mine especially. There are times when I have kept silent when I should have spoken up and times when I should have kept quiet and instead I offended someone by opening my mouth.

This struggle is not a new one. James wrote about the tongue and how with it we bless God and curse men. Ouch. God is in the process of showing me the effects my words are having and to be honest, it's downright embarrassing and yet, I keep saying those hurtful words. AHHHH!

It is good to know that my sin does not surprise God - I mean He put this struggle in the Bible thousands of years before I existed - and that He desires to train my mental goalie to listen to His calls and not mine.

Have I ever mentioned that we have an awesome God?

The Rest of the Story

Ok.... So I am really tired right now, but I am going to finish my story because I promised that I would.

So it all started when my sister was born. She and I have shared a room for the last 19 years. (Interject random but important comment: We have bunk beds and I sleep on the top... Continue) Last summer at around 3 am a large storm blew in and woke me up. Being concerned with the possibility of rain blowing in our open window, I rolled over and shut it.

Apparently Sarah was also awakened and concerned with the window. She however stuck her hand in the window to determine if the rain truly was blowing in our room. She did this at the same time I shut the window.

From my bed I hear "OW! MY HAND!" Since I am such a wonderful older sister I rolled back over and went to sleep.

The next morning Sarah commented on how heavy that window was for both of us to open. Spoo.

What are the odds of both of us waking up at the same time in the middle of the night to shut the window? It's so crazy, it's funny.

This Just In...

Thank you for tuning into the evening news. In recent events a new blog has been discovered. This blog is said to be the owner of one (or four) Adam_Josh_Meik_Nick. Quality posts have been found at this blog site and our team of investigative reporters have verified the said owner. This blog is creating quite a stir as citizens of the blog community are anticipating that this blog will create more awareness of blogging. One blogger noted that the increase in good blogs will only cause more people to read them. Another blogger said of the blog, "I am so excited!" and another, "Wow!" We stopped asking bloggers for comments as they were generally short and not very good for our story. We were unable to get a comment from Adam_Josh_Meik_Nick, but we didn't really try.

In other news it is still cold and rainy outside. Tune it tomorrow to hear our expert explain how to choose the best turkey for Thanksgiving.

Thank you and goodnight!

For the 1st (?) time

Well I just submitted my last group project contribution for this quarter. WOO HOO.

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I couldn't remember if I had shared this story on here before or not. So today, instead of writing my paper I read all my blog entries to find out. I also read all of my old Bible study notes and clipped my toenails and took a nap. But that was more for procrastination than actually determining if this story was on here already. Anyway, I couldn't find it so I am going to assume it's not on here. If it is... well.... I don't care. I'm telling it again.

(Wow. I'm long-winded tonight. And I just finished writing a paper. You would think I would be out of words. Maybe I just couldn't use very many good words, like toenails, in an global econ paper and I just have to get them out here....)

So it all started when my sister was born. She and I have shared a room for the last 19 years.




You know what? I think I am out of words. Just like that. They are all gone. Well...not all of them. I've managed to retain a few small words that make me sound like an inarticulate 3rd grader. Hmmm.... retain and inarticulate were the last good words I had. So I am going to have to stop writing. I promise I'll finish the story tomorrow. Sorry.

Thoughts on Modesty

So just as I go to Bible Study with some pretty great guys, I also go with some pretty awesome girls.

Last night was our first women's Bible study and we talked about modesty. I expected to go and nod and just listen. Why? Because I considered myself to dress modestly, yet fashionable. As my friend Amberly put it "not homely, but not a slut".

I was however, challenged and I left with a better understanding of what modesty really is. I realized that my attitude towards how I dress needs to change. I shouldn't be looking at my wardrobe and determining what I could "get away with" and still be modest. My criteria used to be: don't dress like a prostitute - because we all know how much respect dressing like that will get you.

That's not a very good measure of what to wear or what not to wear. I should ask with every outfit - does dressing like this glorify God? As one of our wonderful leaders, Angela put it, "I want people to see Who I worship by how I dress. I don't want to look like everyone else."

Now I know some of you are probably thinking "Wow. Andi is going to start wearing brown shapeless dresses..... or become a nun. She's a freak."

I happen to like brown shapeless dresses, thank you very much....

Just kidding. I really believe that you can dress attractively and modestly at the same time. And to be honest, its not that hard. It just takes time and energy to always check what you are wearing.

After last night I have a better understand about the importance of dressing modestly. There are three things it does: 1. Glorifies God 2. Protects my purity 3. Removes distractions from fellow believers.

There are some clothes that I have that I wish I had never worn around people. I feel like I should apologize for wearing them because they don't glorify God. They were part of a grey area in modesty that I rationalized. Well no more grey areas. I don't want to ever be thought of as dressing inappropriately.

So if you will excuse me, I have some more clothes to go through....

A Day of Shopping

Today my friend Amberly and I went shopping. Yes. Shopping. For a whole day. While on our shopping trip we observed many interesting things.

Mini Cooper billboards have dropped to middle school tactics for marketing. Their messages which say things like "The Four Crotch, Crotch Rocket" and "Your Epidermis Is Showing" made me laugh so hard that I almost drove off the road.

We saw three pre-teen girls march into Tiffany & Co. and ask "You got a bathroom?" The lady at the counter just looked at them. "You heard me. You got a bathroom?" The sales lady informed them that they would need to go to another store to use the facilities. They marched out proclaiming how they "hate it when people look at ya like that from head to toe." I can't imagine why.

Monroe has it all. They have 2 flea markets, a giant Jesus, a prison, and a hustler store. I mean what else could you want in a town? I think I am going to move.

All in all it was a productive day. I even got a cute new outfit out of it. I should go shopping more often. Maybe this girly thing isn't so bad....

Good Night

You know it was a good night when you experience these things:

A musical with great lines like, "I've always wanted a friend... and a PET!" and "I was raised to be charming, not sincere."

Watching your friend dip his chicken strips in his coffee. Spoo.

Seeing a lady try and close the door to the bathroom, only to be thwarted by a handicap door button that was inadvertently pushed. Pull it shut and it swings back open, pull it shut and it swings back open.

Any reference to little people.

Eating magic beans.

Leaving the restaurant after selecting some songs that can only be classified as "torture".

Sneezing at a waitress.

Yes. Last night was a good night.

Stuck Here For Now

I don't know about anyone else, but there are times (like now) when I get really tired of this whole free will thing. Sometimes I think that life would be so much easier if God just made us follow Him. None of this stumbling and messing up and forgetting to love. We just would love the Lord our God with all our heart and love our neighbors as ourselves everyday because that's what we had to do.

I understand the reasons why free will really makes our choice to follow God better than being forced to follow Him, but sometimes, dangit, I make so many bad choices that I would rather not have that option.

There was a time in my life where I was so broken that Christ was the only thing waking me up in the morning. While I don't miss the pain of that time, I do miss the closeness to Christ. It made the pain worth it.

So I guess what I am trying to say is this: I can't wait to get to heaven where the only choice I have is to worship God. How sweet that will be. I mean let's face it. This life is hard and messy and painful.

I'm glad Christ gives us so much more to look forward to.

Elections, Papers and Weems

So I am pretty happy with the outcome of this year elections. Except I think my county voted in satan for county commissioner... AGAIN! At least this year he's outnumbered 2-1 by commissioners who actually care about our county.

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That devil-of-a-group-project that gave me an eye twitch is graded.

We got a 90%.

Another lesson in grace, because I am pretty sure we deserved a 67.5%

But I won't argue it.
*************
"Weems, if you wear panty hose to our meeting tonight, I will too."

This was said today when I ran into the campus director for the ministry I am a part of at school. I was wearing a suit because of a class presentation. He told me I should wear it to our meeting tonight. It's really only funny if you know Weems. For everyone else, I am sorry.

BTW, he declined to wear panty hose.

Election Day - Nov. 2

Will you vote?