Happy Birthday

Old, Comfy Shoes is one year old today!

In honor of that here are some of my favorite posts from when it first started:

• The Raccoon Story
• Glad You Aren't Beautiful
• It Builds Character
• He Said What?!?!?
• The Man of My Dreams

Thanks for reading my blog!

A Random Find

It was the first time that I realized that my little safe suburb community was marred with a dark side. It was a taste of reality. I think it was then that I first thought that being a police officer must be a cool job.

It was a sunny day and we were on our way to the baby-sitter's when the brief case flew out of the window of the truck in front of us. We were only about a mile from my house and not quite to the nursing home. The case bounced a few times and then landed open. Money began to blow out of it as cars drove past. My mom stopped and gathered some of the bills, shut the case and put it in our van. We drove to the baby-sitter's house and called the police. They came and questioned my mom. I remember that scaring me. What if they took her away? They determined that it was drug money. Maybe they found drugs in it, maybe not. I can't remember. Fortunately, the guy in his haste to be rid of the money, left his wallet in the briefcase. My mom was cleared from any suspicion and the guy was soon arrested.

It was a random experience. Not one that is supposed to happen in my town, but one that I remember until today. I mean, how many other kid's moms find drug money? That's pretty cool.

My car's mileage just rolled over to 200,000! I love my car.

She Didn't Learn That From Me

So I think my.... errr...I mean.... my parent's cat is pregnant. While kittens are incredibly cute, I really don't want to have to find homes for them. Plus I am afraid that the kittens will have two heads and 6 legs. All the feral cats around my house are related and there isn't a large gene pool for these cats to draw from.

This does solve the problem of what gifts I am giving my friends who are getting married. Every new home needs a cat. Especially a mutant cat.

For everyone else, these one-of-a-kind mutant cats will cost ya $25. Order now.

a boring update for the sake of posting

It turned cold again. I should have expected it. Ohio weather never stays constant. But I was hoping that we had skipped over the rainy, chilly spring and had moved right into the warm, sunny summer. Not so much. Oh well.

Yesterday I went to a women's mini-retreat/brunch at my church. I really enjoyed it. I wasn't sure I would. All-girls events either go really well or really horrible. Girls can be incredibly encouraging or incredibly judgmental. Yesterday was encouraging. I got to meet some very cool ladies who had very interesting life stories. We worshipped together and I think it is so beautiful to hear only female voices singing praise songs.

This is my last weekend that I will be in town. The next four weekends I will be traveling to either Kentucky, the other side of Ohio or Florida. Things are going to get crazy.....

Fashion News

It has been a day of Fashion Faux Pas.

1. Today as I was walking to class I saw a lady wearing one pink flip-flop and one black clog. I could understand two flip-flops of different colors, but to wear two completely different types of shoes takes talent.

2. I noticed that if I wear my hair half back and catch my reflection just right it looks like I have a mullet. That's just cool.

3. There was definitely a guy walking across campus wearing see-through white pants and bright blue boxers. Gross.

4. I found this in my town's newspaper. I think my friend Chris, minus the attempt at seductive eating, should join them.







In other news:

I got a head set for my cell phone. Now when I talk on the phone for hours on end I won't get brain cancer. Hurray!

The local High School had a Mardi Gras dance on April 16th. I am guessing that next month they will have the winter ball.

Country Livin'

I grew up on a small farm and learned a lot of really cool things from it. Here they are in no particular order:

1. Milk a goat
2. Slaughter a chicken
3. Release excess gas in a goat's stomach (Gross!)
   
4. Bottle feed baby rabbits, cats and goats
5. Give an animal a shot (I'm not very good)
6. Mix cement
7. Tar a basement
8. Birth goats (You really don't have to do anything, just watch. It's sooo cool!)
9. Correctly compost yard waste
10. Hypnotize a chicken
11. Hold a chicken without getting scratched
12. Plant a garden
13. Build a fire
14. Raise chickens

All useful life skills. (Except for maybe the gas one)

This Weekend

I think you can get used to the new look. Aside from a few minor changes it's probably here to stay.

This weekend I went on a state-wide campus ministry retreat. It was a good time. We had a great speaker, some good fellowship and a unique service project. But I really don't want to write about those.

Instead, I want to write about Miranda tripping over my cell phone charger cord. Normally when this kind of thing happens it isn't a big event. The person falls, I try not to laugh and ask them if they are ok, they get really embarrassed and life goes on. Miranda, however, has skills at tripping over cords because she breaks things. At first we just though that she just broke the outlet cover, but upon closer inspection we realized that she actually broke the plastic part of the outlet. Like it came off. There was no way anything could be plugged in there because all you could see were metal prongs just waiting to kill the person who connected them wrong. It was amazing.

Miranda was upset that she had destroyed someone's outlet, I however was impressed that she broke the outlet!

That in and of itself made my weekend. Thanks Miranda.

New Look

Don't get to used to the new look it's gonna change... maybe.

Used Books

Check out my text book. Someone translated some of the words into another language. How cool is that? Anyone know what language that is? Used books are good for this reason....

Girls, Kiwi and Bees

Today at work, Stephen and I were talking about girls who date around just because guys will buy them things. Stephen made this comment:

"Girls are just black holes that you throw money into. They are a very bad return on investment."

I told him I could see him breaking up with a girl because of that. He said he would tell her:

"Honey this isn't working. You just don't have a very good return on investment. I mean these profit margins are horrible! I can't handle these percentages."

This is what dorky business majors talk about for fun.

********************

My brother Nate, isn't an extremely emotional person, but when he freaks out, he does it with style. I can only think of two times when he has done this.

The first time he took a bite of Kiwi fruit and began to feel a burning sensation in his throat. This obviously meant that he was choking and he reacted accordingly. He jumped out of his chair, stuck his arms straight up and began to run up and down the hall screaming, "I CAN'T BREATH!!! I CAN'T BREATH!" My mom freaked out and ran after him. Sarah and I yelled back that if he could scream then he wasn't choking and please shut up. He lived and never ate Kiwi again.

The second time was a bit more traumatic for everyone involved. My mom was mowing the grass and upset a bee hive in the ground. All of us kids were swarmed and ran to the house. Nate ran in through the back door while I shot for the front door. Unfortunately the front door was locked. I started pounding on the door yelling for Nate to open it. All I heard was Nate running up and down the hallway screaming. The screams would get louder as he ran past the door.
AHHHHHHAHHHHAHHHAHHHHHHAHHHHAHHHAHHHHAHHHHAHHHH

I figured something horrible was happening to him, like he was dying or more bees had attacked him. Once I got in through the back door I stopped him and asked him what was wrong. "I GOT STUNG BY BEES AND THERE WAS ONE IN THE HOUSE!" He yelled at me. We eventually counted our bee stings. He had two. I had six. Angry eyes.

I love Nate. He makes me laugh.

Chicago

Amberly and I went to Chicago this weekend to visit my friend Chris. It was so very nice to see him and just hang out. I heard some of the most random statements this weekend and I am going to share them with you:

"If you and Chris are related you should totally get married!"
~ Heather. She and her husband were excited to find out on their wedding day that they were distant cousins.

"That table got better service because they had a pretty girl at it."
~ Chris. Apparently Amberly and I are not beautiful enough to get good service at Lou's....

"I studied PMS in my class last semester!"
~ Chris.

"I need money. I am helpless, hopeless, without anything..... HEY! You look like Abe Lincoln!"
~ Drunk Homeless Man. To Chris.

"It's called Kid Tag."
~ Trevor. Explaining why he randomly pushes kids at the zoo. Not cool.

Words of Wisdom About College

Today I learned three very valuable lessons about college that I wish I had known a while ago.

It was so beautiful outside today. I really didn't want to go to class, but since there was a chance I wouldn't make it to class on Friday I made myself go. Once I got to school I found out my class had been cancelled for today and Friday.

Moral of the story: Skip class. They are going to cancel it anyway.

Amanda stayed up until 4:00 am finishing her homework for her math class. Today her professor decided it was too nice of a day to have class and didn't collect the homework.

Moral of the story: Don't do your homework.

Amanda transferred into my school and realized that her 4.0 GPA didn't come with her. Now she doesn't have all the easy A's in gen eds to boost her GPA.

Moral of the story: It's better to drop out of college than transfer somewhere.

I wish someone would have told me all of these things my freshman year....

Silenced Questions

It came as a whisper. A hushed secret told in shame and concern. She was doubting. A friend of mine was questioning her faith. We were both juniors in High School; old enough to know that good Baptist girls did not doubt. We should be teaching Sunday school classes, not questioning whether or not this whole God and Jesus thing was for real.

My time of doubting came a year and a half later, between my senior year of high school and my freshman year at college. Did I really want to follow this God my parents had taught me so much about? I had already trusted Him with the forgiveness of my sins, but could I really trust Him with the rest of my life? I kept my doubts a secret. I knew that questioning my faith was one step away from burning in hell. (or so I thought) Besides that, all my friends were heading to college with dreams of being missionaries and pastors. I told God that I would be anything BUT a missionary. I didn’t quite fit in.

The fear we Christians have in people questioning their faith surprises me. We don’t talk about our own doubts and questions and people who share theirs should be pitied. If we truly believed that God is God and Jesus is the only way to Heaven, we shouldn’t fear questions. Truth is truth. Questions will not shake that.

I believe scripture teaches absolute truth. A person seeking truth will eventually have no choice but to settle for a lie or believe in God. I know that’s a bold statement to make, but it’s one that I am staking my whole life on. If people must choose between God or a lie, then questions about truth should be encouraged, not quieted. Eventually the questions will lead a seeker to God. My questions led me to God.

When we tell people to silent their questions and doubts we paint a picture of a God who is too insecure to handle difficult questions. Don’t ask that…God may not be able to answer and that would embarrass Him. God doesn’t need our pity and protection. He’s bigger than our questions. Our doubts and lack of understanding do not shake the confidence of God. God is God irregardless of our questions.

If we continue to ask people to follow God without owning it, without questioning exactly what they believe, without testing the truth of God, we ask them not to follow God, but a religion. And to follow it blindly. I don’t think Christ died for that.

I haven’t gotten all my questions answered. Some things I believe because I have to believe or I would go crazy. It’s like gravity. I can’t explain why gravity exists or really how it works, but I believe that gravity will hold me to the earth. I have to. Otherwise I would go crazy with the fear of flying off into space. Some things I believe because I questioned and received answers that pointed to God. No. It doesn’t always make sense. But that’s ok. God’s not afraid of my questions.

Thoughts Running Through My Head.....

Props must be given to Dawn for correctly diagnosing my itchy eye as NOT pink eye. Which is good since pink eye is almost the same as having the plague (minus the dying). Dawn's also such a cool girl that she threw in information about a parasite that could cause pink eye and a random fact about allergies. Yeah. It was a weird conversation, but that's why I love talking with her, we never have normal conversations.

I think I would make a good nun. I can walk quite well with my hands in my hoodie sweatshirt pocket. This is important because nuns always walk around with their hands tucked inside their habits. I am pretty sure I could do that. I don't know about the other nun duties, but I could definitely walk with my hands in my habit. It's good to keep my options open.

Recently the pressure for me to get married has increased. Not marriage in general, but there's pressure to have a "cool story", or at least an unusual one. My cousin met her fiancee at a restaurant and thought he was cute. Today I watched a newscast where a co-worker surprise proposed to his girlfriend on T.V. Another friend eloped. They all need to stop. The expectations keep increasing. If I ever married, I won't be able to top these. Or maybe I can...

Single white female looking for an incarcerated male close to parole ready to run to Vegas.

I finally found a vending machine on campus that sells Cooler Ranch Doritos. I bought some today (Yeah!) and received the equivalent of two crushed chips in my bag (boo!). That shouldn't be allowed. That's the kind of thing that could ruin someone's day.