i've never been one for jumping on bandwagons. there is a little bit of a rebellious spirit about me that makes me want to go against the norm. and i've come to realize that i've probably missed out on some things because of this. one thing i've jumped on is the GREEN thing. i've always had a "hippie" spirit of recycling & saving the dolphins, but now there are just more opportunities to take care of what God has given us. i've always loved the outdoors and probably would love to live more minimally. but, i'm also a pack-rat b/c i hate wasting. hate it. i'm learning to let go and give more stuff away. i just wanted to share some of my favorite green products:
- Reusable Grocery Bags are by far the best thing ever!! we no longer have this ridiculous collection of plastic bags growing in a corner of our apartment. i've collect these bags from a few places...WFAE with a donation, Baggu Bags which has a huge variety of colors and even produce bags, and Flip and Tumble which are probably my favorite and the easiest to use b/c they just wrap up in a ball. the most important thing about using these bags is remembering to bring them with you, so stuff them in your car or purse or backpack!
- Bath & Body Products are a great way to not only go green, but to take better care of one's skin. skincare products have a ridiculous amount of chemicals and things that just aren't needed. A few brands that are sure to be paraben and chemical free are Avalon Organics (i love the lavender), Aubrey Organics (great swimmer's shampoo), Earth Science's amazing lavender & tea tree oil deodorant as well as many other products listed at the GreenerPenny site. Another thing i've taken to do recently is make my own perfumes and i love it!! it's simply using natural essential oils (sandlewood, patchouli, lavender, and many more) mixed with filtered water in a mister or with jojoba oil in a dropper.
- Green Resources such as National Geographic's Green Guide, Seventh Generation, and Reusable Bags are just a few of many many online resources for simple ways to go green at home, work, and play.
i don't know about you, but i usually feel like i have to do everything at once...you don't. use cloth napkins instead of paper, use glass storage containers instead of plastic ones, use a REusable water bottle instead of buying plastic ones, recycle trash, clothes and household products, and shop at thrift stores!! Visit Restoring Eden for more information on how we can be good stewards of the beautiful place God has created for each of us to enjoy.
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
we the people
i don't remember ever watching a Presidential Inauguration. but tuesday was different. it's been different for a while and honestly, pretty exciting. i literally got chills during the whole thing.
i read some "letters to the president-elect" on sunday in the paper and the one from Franklin Graham really struck me. there was something about "God choosing you for this" and i think that's true. we often forget God's hand in things. and i'm so thankful that God's "perfect and pleasing will" surpasses any thing we could ever imagine. President Obama is NOT a savior and i don't expect him to be mine. (Jesus is)
how exciting that we have a president like him...someone who is not afraid to roll up his sleeves and get dirty, or who is other-centered rather than self-centered, or who has spread a sense of hope and excitement across our nation and among all sorts of people.
i am constantly thinking about the "issues." and i think that most christians compartmentalize and rank things as being worse than others. i found a file where i wrote down my "political thoughts" and i came across these two verses: "all they ask was that we should continue to remember the poor" Gal. 2:10 and "there will always be poor people in the land. therefore i command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward poor and needy in your land." Deut. 15:11. i often hear christians say stuff like, "i hope he's not going to start giving hand-outs." that got me thinking...was God sending his only son to die on the cross for my sins a hand out? that's just one of many things that get me thinking.
i will continue to seek God's will and i will continue to pray for my new president and his family. i was truly excited the whole day on tuesday. and i am excited that my bi-racial nephew will grow up with a president that looks like him. that's pretty damn cool!!
i read some "letters to the president-elect" on sunday in the paper and the one from Franklin Graham really struck me. there was something about "God choosing you for this" and i think that's true. we often forget God's hand in things. and i'm so thankful that God's "perfect and pleasing will" surpasses any thing we could ever imagine. President Obama is NOT a savior and i don't expect him to be mine. (Jesus is)
how exciting that we have a president like him...someone who is not afraid to roll up his sleeves and get dirty, or who is other-centered rather than self-centered, or who has spread a sense of hope and excitement across our nation and among all sorts of people.
i am constantly thinking about the "issues." and i think that most christians compartmentalize and rank things as being worse than others. i found a file where i wrote down my "political thoughts" and i came across these two verses: "all they ask was that we should continue to remember the poor" Gal. 2:10 and "there will always be poor people in the land. therefore i command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward poor and needy in your land." Deut. 15:11. i often hear christians say stuff like, "i hope he's not going to start giving hand-outs." that got me thinking...was God sending his only son to die on the cross for my sins a hand out? that's just one of many things that get me thinking.
i will continue to seek God's will and i will continue to pray for my new president and his family. i was truly excited the whole day on tuesday. and i am excited that my bi-racial nephew will grow up with a president that looks like him. that's pretty damn cool!!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
All dogs go to heaven!
well...i'm not sure this is an accurate statement.
this past weekend adam and i got to dog-sit one of the cutest dogs ever...Scout, a Norwich Terrier. (same dog that won Best in Show in the movie) We got to spend the weekend in a big house in a nice neighborhood, which was so fun. taking Scout on walks was so fun b/c she'd turn around to make sure i was there. I AM NOT a dog person. Adam loves dogs. well, this dog might have changed my heart a tad. and she loved me. she even slept with us. now, that's crazy talk.
i just had to share some pictures of this cute little lady dog, Scout.
isn't she just the cutest!! (ps...i would never really say this about a dog)
this past weekend adam and i got to dog-sit one of the cutest dogs ever...Scout, a Norwich Terrier. (same dog that won Best in Show in the movie) We got to spend the weekend in a big house in a nice neighborhood, which was so fun. taking Scout on walks was so fun b/c she'd turn around to make sure i was there. I AM NOT a dog person. Adam loves dogs. well, this dog might have changed my heart a tad. and she loved me. she even slept with us. now, that's crazy talk.
i just had to share some pictures of this cute little lady dog, Scout.
isn't she just the cutest!! (ps...i would never really say this about a dog)
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Locker Rooms
I got the okay from friends to share this. Take this as a warning or perhaps good advice:
DON'T walk around naked in a locker room.
Now, that statement alone may seem like an oxymoron. Clearly, one must be naked at some point in a locker room if the point of the locker room is to change clothes in or even shower. I understand this. I grew up swimming and I remember the older girls in the locker room used to freak me out by the way they freely walked around. Uh, didn't they know there were kids present?! I was always super modest (you can ask my mom) and could change clothes without ever really showing as much as my elbow. Crazy, I know.
Now I work out at the Aquatic Center uptown. Whenever I go in, there is a lady getting ready. I have come to expect her. I understand she doesn't want to blow dry her hair with clothes on b/c it gets hot. But, for the love!! Then, you'll see a cluster of women talking as they change. Ugh, it makes me feel like that awkward 7 year old. Uh, I'm 30!!
Yesterday I walk in from the pool and BAM, hello lady!! And it's just me and her, so I rush to the showers and hope that when I return she's either fully clothed or gone. She was clothed. Then, comes my stealth dressing...So, I'm thinking, "What's wrong with me that I don't like to see naked women in the locker room?" maybe I should rephrase that..."that I feel so uncomfortable with it?" (I know the Dowd Y can be like this too) I find myself thinking, "that's so great she feels that comfortable with herself"--wait! no I don't care how comfortable she is. or "something must be wrong with me that I can't celebrate in the freedom these women have." Maybe. But, when it comes down to it...I do not want to see it. Cause in a locker room (specifically this one) there is no where to go or turn!
So, if you are one of these "likes to walk around in all your glory" kind of ladies, just know that there may be others that are freaking out on the inside. And good for you for feeling the freedom!
DON'T walk around naked in a locker room.
Now, that statement alone may seem like an oxymoron. Clearly, one must be naked at some point in a locker room if the point of the locker room is to change clothes in or even shower. I understand this. I grew up swimming and I remember the older girls in the locker room used to freak me out by the way they freely walked around. Uh, didn't they know there were kids present?! I was always super modest (you can ask my mom) and could change clothes without ever really showing as much as my elbow. Crazy, I know.
Now I work out at the Aquatic Center uptown. Whenever I go in, there is a lady getting ready. I have come to expect her. I understand she doesn't want to blow dry her hair with clothes on b/c it gets hot. But, for the love!! Then, you'll see a cluster of women talking as they change. Ugh, it makes me feel like that awkward 7 year old. Uh, I'm 30!!
Yesterday I walk in from the pool and BAM, hello lady!! And it's just me and her, so I rush to the showers and hope that when I return she's either fully clothed or gone. She was clothed. Then, comes my stealth dressing...So, I'm thinking, "What's wrong with me that I don't like to see naked women in the locker room?" maybe I should rephrase that..."that I feel so uncomfortable with it?" (I know the Dowd Y can be like this too) I find myself thinking, "that's so great she feels that comfortable with herself"--wait! no I don't care how comfortable she is. or "something must be wrong with me that I can't celebrate in the freedom these women have." Maybe. But, when it comes down to it...I do not want to see it. Cause in a locker room (specifically this one) there is no where to go or turn!
So, if you are one of these "likes to walk around in all your glory" kind of ladies, just know that there may be others that are freaking out on the inside. And good for you for feeling the freedom!
the problem with blogging
Since we don't have kids it seems like we don't have much to report on. But, we really do! I just teeter on what to blog about without being like, "today we played scrabble." you know? anyway...
If Adam had time, he could probably contribute some pretty amazing pieces to the blog. I'm sure that as a 2nd year grad student, teaching 2 freshmen composition classes, and working on a thesis, he has stuff to share. He's really going to be a great teacher. I watch him prepare for hours for his classes then be so defeated that he isn't ready. It's such a battlefield for him. (and we thought only love was) ha :) I really believe that God has "created him on purpose and for a purpose." This was something our pastor said in a sermon a couple weeks ago and it's stuck with me.
This past weekend we had a Young Life leadership weekend at Windy Gap and my boss shared at club about being in the presence of Christ. I don't spend enough time in His presence. He talked about finding our identity, destiny, & community in the presence of Christ. And it seems like it should go in that order. For Adam to believe that he was made to teach & write (his destiny) he needs to know who he is (identity). Young Life has a new logo & tag line that I'm struggling to adjust to. Be that as it may! (i always want to try to use that) The tagline is this: You were made for this. And that clearly doesn't just apply to YL. I do believe there are so many parts of my job that I was made for, and other parts where God wants to teach & grow me. It's been so fun for me seeing Adam in something he was made for; even when it feels hard and endless at times.
I had no "vision" for this post. I've just been feeling like I'm not good at this blogging thing b/c as Adam would suggest, "I don't really know who my audience is." Except most of you reading this are my friends and know that I'm completely random and would appreciate a little snapshot of my crazy self. So, here you go!
If Adam had time, he could probably contribute some pretty amazing pieces to the blog. I'm sure that as a 2nd year grad student, teaching 2 freshmen composition classes, and working on a thesis, he has stuff to share. He's really going to be a great teacher. I watch him prepare for hours for his classes then be so defeated that he isn't ready. It's such a battlefield for him. (and we thought only love was) ha :) I really believe that God has "created him on purpose and for a purpose." This was something our pastor said in a sermon a couple weeks ago and it's stuck with me.
This past weekend we had a Young Life leadership weekend at Windy Gap and my boss shared at club about being in the presence of Christ. I don't spend enough time in His presence. He talked about finding our identity, destiny, & community in the presence of Christ. And it seems like it should go in that order. For Adam to believe that he was made to teach & write (his destiny) he needs to know who he is (identity). Young Life has a new logo & tag line that I'm struggling to adjust to. Be that as it may! (i always want to try to use that) The tagline is this: You were made for this. And that clearly doesn't just apply to YL. I do believe there are so many parts of my job that I was made for, and other parts where God wants to teach & grow me. It's been so fun for me seeing Adam in something he was made for; even when it feels hard and endless at times.
I had no "vision" for this post. I've just been feeling like I'm not good at this blogging thing b/c as Adam would suggest, "I don't really know who my audience is." Except most of you reading this are my friends and know that I'm completely random and would appreciate a little snapshot of my crazy self. So, here you go!
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